When worlds collide
by kemina0309
Summary: He is the ultimate bad boy, she is the sweet good girl. What happens when their worlds collide? Will she change him for the better? Or will he bring her down? Only time will tell...
1. Chapter 1

**Hey out there. First of all – happy new year to everyone! So here comes the new story. I got this idea last year while I was watching 'Twelve' with Chace in the lead. I just love his scruffy look in that movie and I like the idea of a bad boy Nate :) So why not combine these two a little. This story contains most of the important Gossip Girl characters, but is only in the beginning close to the show, then it goes all fictional and out of my head.**

**Also the characters are not exactly like in the show, e.g. Jenny and Dan ain't siblings. Jenny is the same age and class as all the others girls, while the boys are a bit older and not in school. But before I tell it all, just read for yourself :) If anything is unclear, you know how to ask. ****Feedback is always appreciated.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing about Gossip Girl or the movie 'Twelve'**

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><p>There she was. Finally. The Kiss on the lips party was in full swing and Jenny was a part of it. Her first Upper East Side party. For the past two weeks she had worked hard while helping planning and organizing this party.<p>

She hadn't been sure if it was a good idea. When she joined the committee, she was pretty sure that Blair didn't like her. At certain times she still thought so today. But somehow they had managed to become sort of friends. Same went for Serena and Penelope.

They had started to eat lunch together and on certain occasions Serena even took her shopping. The long legged blonde was definitely easier to handle than the tinier brunette. Especially as Blair could have her 'moments' as Serena kept calling them.

Being the new girl was never easy, being the new girl in a borough you don't even belong was pure hell. Jenny was a Brooklyn girl, she was born and raised there. A true Williamsburg babe. She had only read about the Upper East Side and couldn't even imagine how life must be for the people living there.

Her dad owned an art gallery in Williamsburg and made most of his money with this by now. In earlier times he used to make music. It was only them – Jenny and Rufus, Rufus and Jenny. Her mom had left them long ago. They do talk on regular basis, but she never had a close bond to her at all. Therefore Rufus had become sort of a best friend to her.

Even though Rufus had family on the UES, he never wanted them to support him or live there. But when it came to the education of his daughter, he only wanted the best for her. So instead of letting her attend a public high school in Brooklyn, he had decided to send her to a private school in Manhattan. That's how Jenny ended up at Constance St. Billard meeting the famous Blair Waldorf, Serena van der Woodsen and Penelope Shafai.

It was still weird and odd to her that they had become friends, but somehow they did. Even if their lives were totally different from each other. A lesson that Jenny learned very, very fast. The lives of the UES kids were nothing close to hers.

So here she was, on her first UES party. All dressed up to have a good time. She had chosen a simple black dress, knee long and black ballerinas with straps leading up her lower leg. Her golden blonde hair was pinned up to the right side, revealing her wonderful long neck.

"There you are. I was already looking for you", Blair said when walking up to her. "It looks amazing, doesn't it? Well, of course it does, after all I planned it. And I'm glad you managed to come here. I already thought you bailed on us. Enjoy the night Jenny. I'll see if the drinks and food are still enough."

Before Jenny could answer, Blair had taken off again. So much for keeping her company tonight. Jenny walked a little further into the ball room. She was about to walk towards the bar counter when a young boy blocked her way.

"Well, well, well. Who do we have here?", the brunette boy stated, gazing her over. "You're truly the brightest diamond in this room. How come we haven't met yet?"

"Probably because I just got here", Jenny replied sarcastic and defensive at the same time. She wasn't sure what to think about this boy.

"True. I'm Ashley Taylor. How about we go somewhere more quiet so we can talk?", he gestured towards a door at the side. "They have some nice seating areas in the accompanying rooms, it's easier to talk there.

Jenny followed with her gaze his hand. "Uhm, sure, why not", she replied hesitantly.

They walked over to the door and entered a smaller room with six booths with tables. Jenny gazed around, feeling more unease with every single second that went by.

"This is definitely quieter, but don't you think that the party would have been also a good place to...", Jenny brought out but was stopped when she turned to face Ashley who stood right behind her.

"This place looks pretty good for me", he said huskily and leaned forward, trying to kiss her.

Jenny pulled away, avoiding their lips meeting each other. "So, you said you wanted to talk. Uhm, what do you want to talk about?"

"How into you I am", he remarked without any hesitation.

Jenny blushed, even though his boldness made her sick to her bones.

_He start__ed__ to kiss her, forcing her against the wall. His hands slid down her waist, trying to get a hold of her t__highs__. Jenny immediately pull__ed__ away again, feeling __way __more than uncomfortable._

"Ok, I am sorry. If you don't want to do anything that's cool. Let's start over", he said in a monotone voice, although he was quite annoyed by her actions. "It's just... you're the most stunning girl in here, and I just had to kiss you. I'm sorry for this fast move on you."

Jenny wasn't sure if she wanted to get to know him closer. But he seemed sincere, so she decided to give him a second chance. After all, everyone deserved a second chance, or? "Yeah, uhm... do you wanna start over back at the party?"

"Eh... let's have a glass of champagne, please?", Ashley asked and took a bottle and two glasses from a near by rack. "I'd like to show you my most favorite place of this building."

"Maybe one", she answered, still unsure if this was a good idea at all.

Ashley led them up to the roof. It was quite chilly but the air was clean and fresh. The view over Manhattan was breathtaking. "This is really an amazing place. The view is unbelievable", Jenny said in awe.

"You can bet on that", he mumbled while eying her over, drinking every of her curves in with anticipation of touching them soon.

They drank one glass in silence before he approached her again and started to kiss her forcefully.

„No!", Jenny screamed out and tried to push him away from her again.

Ashley only got more and more annoyed, but also at the same time massively turned on. "Be quiet. You'll like this." He pushed her against a wall and grabbed her inner thigh, squeezing it while rubbing himself against her.

"Stop!", she screamed once more, praying that someone would hear her and come to help.

To her own delight someone did. "Get off of her. Stop!", she heard a harsh male voice cut in. "Ashley, get off of her! I'm not going to repeat myself!"

_A tall blonde followed by Blair pull__ed__ Ashley away from her. Jenny immediately r__an __over to Blair, who h__eld__ her close while Jenny start__ed__ to sob._

"Are you ok?", the tall blonde asked her. Jenny was only capable of nodding shortly, tears falling down her face.

"Son of a...", he yelled out but got interrupted by Ashley.

"What the hell is your problem? It's a party. Things happen. Who are you anyway?", he asked.

"You're worst nightmare if you get close to her again", he replied harsh.

Then he turned to the two girls. "Let's get you out of here. If he ever gets close to you again, just let me know. I'm Dylan by the way."

"Thank you", Jenny murmured.

They walked towards the exit door to leave the roof. Ashley remained where he stood before, following them with an angry expression. Neither one of those four realized that there was a fifth person watching the entire scene. Blue eyes followed the golden blonde girl while she was led back to the party.

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**One month later**

She was going to kill Blair. That was it. It was going to be long and very painful death. Very, very painful, and very slow.

Jenny glared at nothing in particular when she made her way out of Constance. She walked over to the bus-stop only to realize that her bus towards Brooklyn had already left ten minutes ago. The next would come in nearly forty-five minutes – _just perfect._

She glimpsed down at her watch and cringed. Jenny crossed her arms angrily and hoped that time would fly by. Although she doubted a lot that it would happen. She was too pissed to read one of her school books from class, and of course the battery of her mobile had died. So her only activity for the next forty-five minutes would be to sit on her own on this stupid bus-stop bench, angrily and nothing to take her anger out on. Well maybe except from the crossing sign on the other side of the street. It was currently getting the look of death from her.

Blair just had to hold the meeting a little longer just to repeat what she had said a million times already. Yes, she was in charge of the organization of the masquerade ball. But why on earth must she always transform into a bitch when doing so? They had talked over the event so many times by now. All was set and still Blair found tons of reasons to meet up with the team on regular basis and ruin their free time.

So now, here she sat waiting for the next bus since she'd missed the first one due to the meeting. And her dad couldn't pick her up, due to his meeting with his new artist. _Just perfect, so fucking perfect. _And of course she wasn't in a very good mood due to this situation.

Knowing how she must look like sitting there all alone, glaring at inanimate objects or persons walking by, she pulled a book out of her bag and tried to focus her attention on reading. Although she'd rather do anything else than that. The lines turned more of a blur as her thoughts drifted to all the things she would have to rush to do when she got home later than usual. Not to think of that she had to explain it to her dad.

She was broken from her thoughts fifteen minutes later when her stomach growled so loud, that she had to look around if anyone passing by had noticed. But she realized once more with anger that she was the only idiotic person waiting for the bus. Of course her classmates had made their way home already, mostly by driving themselves or being picked up by their drivers. She was probably the only one at Constance who drove the bus on regular basis.

Feeling even more self pity, she glanced down the street to the end of the block. There clearly was a coffee shop somewhere near. She couldn't remember the name, but she was sure that just around the corner was one. Coffee, and pastries. Oh yeah, that's exactly what she needed right now.

She checked her watch shortly to see whether she still had time until the next bus would come and stuck her book in her bag, flung it over her shoulder and started to head down the street. Twenty-five minutes was enough time to get a coffee and something to fill her empty stomach.

She walked the street up and around the corner to find the French cafe not far from it and with a smile of relief on her face, she walked in and headed straight to the counter. Gladly it was quite empty, so she could order right away. She inhaled the wonderful scent that only cafe's held, coffee and sweet dessert and the majority of her anger at Blair slid from her body. Maybe life wasn't so bad at all.

"Hey darling, what can I get you?"

Jenny smiled at the little old lady behind the counter, who looked like she belonged in a little small town instead of a crazy big city like New York.

"A large coffee and the biggest French croissant you have, please."

She gazed longingly at the case which held an assortment of donuts and pastries as she pulled her arms out of her school blazer and tugged off her tie, shoving them into her backpack. It was only October and not really all that cold yet but the cafe had the heat turned all the way up and it was impossibly hot.

"3.50 $", the little old woman said, smiling as she handed Jenny her order.

Jenny returned the smile and handed her the money quickly before saying thank you and walking out of the cafe. She took a relieving drink of the hot liquid in her hand and placed the croissant in her back pack to save it for the ride home.

She looked at her watch only to see that she still had plenty of time to make it back and she decided to take in her surroundings on her way back to the bus-stop. She never really had paid attention to the buildings or shops when she got here or walked past them.

In between the buildings were small alleys that were either filled with dumpsters or all kind of other trash. To her surprise some kids hung out in some of them. She had no idea what was so appealing about hanging out in a dark alleyway but figured that she also didn't want to know.

Shops were everywhere, apartments upstairs, taxis and cars zooming by, garbage bins everywhere – the typical hustle of New York. She found her mind wandering and picturing herself here in the city, taking the unhurried walk home after a long day at work, letting her mind drift away with it as she continued walking.

A yell from across the street broke her from her thoughts and she spun around to see what was going on, walking a few steps backwards for a moment but was abruptly stopped as her back collided with something solid.

"Whoa, what the fuck?", a voice hissed from right behind her as two hands clasped onto her upper arms tightly.

Slightly out of breath, she balanced herself out and held her coffee tight before stepping out of their hold and turning around.

"I'm sorry, I didn't watch where I was… going", Jenny trailed off when she looked up to meet two very crystal blue eyes staring intensely down at her. A twisted smirk covered the man in front of her face and she involuntarily took another step back at the expression.

She quickly ran her eyes over him once before her eyes met his again. He towered over her and from the look of him, he was maybe a few years older than she was. His blonde hair was spiked casually all over his head lacking any kind of product and from the looks of it had just been hand combed to form the mess. A white shirt covered his upper torso snugly. Baggy pants hung low on his hips revealing a bit of the boxers he wore underneath and a worn leather jacket hung off his shoulders.

"Then maybe you should watch where you're going, you think?", he commented, making her look back up at him. His voice taking on a superior tone as he continued to smirk down at her.

Jenny's eyes narrowed then in irritation and disbelief. She had just apologized to him and he was actually talking to her as if she were a little child. The moment of serenity of her having a nice walk with a cup of delicious coffee was now gone and her anger from earlier was back full force.

"I said I was sorry. But apparently you're too stupid to understand the meaning of an apology or you are totally deaf", she grumbled, not keen to deal with an idiot at this moment and moved to walk past him but stopped when he started to laugh. She met his eyes to see a look of pure disbelief in them. The look in his eyes showing her that he was completely shocked that she had apparently spoken that way to him.

_Great, a chauvinist pig_, she thought.

"Yes Archibald, you must be very stupid." She turned to her left as a man with an English accent emerged from the alley closest to them.

"Hello, sweetheart", he greeted, looking Jenny over from head to toe while licking his lips, a seductive grin on his face that made her more than a little uncomfortable.

"You know...", the blonde interrupted again, his eyes fixed on her and Jenny noticed the disbelief was gone but now his face was expressionless and cold. Deadly emotionless. "I don't take too kindly to insults."

Jenny mechanically rolled her eyes at his remark. Her head told her to just walk away but her pride wasn't able to resist commenting back at him. "Sorry to harm your obviously oversized ego but… deal with it."

She shook her head as she walked around them and headed back towards the bus stop. It amazed her that some people in this world really were that completely full of themselves.

She ignored the set of chuckles from behind her, but at the sound of footsteps she turned her head slightly and a feeling of anxiousness filled her when she saw they were pretty much right behind her.

Following her, she corrected, and the uneasy feeling went straight to the pit of her stomach.

She looked ahead and saw the bus bench come into view and a bit of relief filtered through her. Although the footsteps didn't stop, she quickened her pace and sat down on the bench, setting her bag beside her and glanced at her watch.

Ten minutes. And she had a feeling they were going to feel like a lifetime.

A second later, she felt someone slide onto the bench next to her a little too intimately and she clutched her bag, happy she had set it there.

Looking up she saw the English smirking at her with his eyes flashing and suddenly she felt nervous and glanced down at her watch again. Not even a minute had passed yet.

"Oh, you aren't frightened, are you?", an amused voice floated from in front of her and she gazed up to see the blonde standing a few feet away. Leaning his back against a street sign as he brought a lighter to his lips and lit a cigarette. He pulled it from his mouth after sticking the lighter back into his pocket and smirked at her, blowing the smoke from his lips with his eyes locked on hers.

Dead. Cold. Showing none of the delight that was in his voice.

"What do you want?", Jenny asked through gritted teeth, trying to hide the fear that has crept up her spine due to the fact that they obviously had followed her to the bench.

A light chuckle came from his mouth but his eyes stayed the same, empty, almost as if he was looking right through her. He tipped his head to the side as his stare turned to a glare that had such a glint to it that she shrunk into the bench.

He looked dangerous.

"I believe you owe me an apology", he stated matter-of-fact.

Jenny furrowed her eyebrows and shook her head in disbelief. "I don't owe you anything." _Is he __serious?_

"She's a feisty one, isn't she?", the English commented from beside her, a grin on his face.

The blonde chuckled again, only making her more anxious when he took a step towards her and she gripped the strap of her bag and pulled it closer.

"No, you do", he repeated, throwing his cigarette onto the sidewalk, not bothering at all to step on it.

A smirk of entertainment twisted onto his face and added anger to her uneasiness. "Really?", Jenny asked sarcastically through gritted teeth, "and why is that?"

"Because," he drawled, "I believe you called me stupid."

She felt the danger. It oozed from him. She knew that even though there was an amused teasing tone to his comment, she felt the cold underline of his words. He was dead serious and trying to intimidate her. She wasn't about to let him know he was succeeding.

Knowing she was playing with fire but wanting to get under his skin as well, she imitated him by cocking her head to the side and gathered up all the courage she had inside her.

"And why should I apologize for a statement that was so obviously true?"

His eyes narrowed at her and she saw them drift from her face and then scan her body, making her shift uncomfortably. He licked his lips as he trailed his eyes along her exposed legs slowly and then met them with hers again.

"You have no fucking idea who I am, do you?", he asked, amusement evident in his voice.

Jenny clenched her fists and rolled her eyes. Just a few minutes and the bus would be there, why not amuse him. "Should I?", she asked feigning interest. _Could he get any more cocky?_

She heard the English burst out laughing from beside her and turned her head to look fully at him. He was dressed in a pair of baggy camouflage pants and a black shirt similar to the blondes white one but instead of a leather jacket, he was wearing a long trench coat with the sleeves rolled up and she noticed the tattoos which decorate his arms. One tattoo specifically caught her eye, a large tribal with a strange design and the initials CBB below it.

"You're not from around here I suppose, sweetheart?" he asked, his teeth flashing, looking more amused than dangerous. Unlike the blonde who while on the outside acted amused, she knew inside he was the complete opposite.

Jenny didn't respond but just gripped her bag tighter, getting more unease by the second. _Two minutes._

"Well she has to live somewhere close seeing as though she's dressed up like those cute little private school girls, that walk around here", the blonde commented to his friend and Jenny refocused on him and gave him a deadly glare, not liking the way he had said "little".

The English laughed. "Oh, a little rich one. No wonder she's so brave."

"Don't assume you know anything about me", Jenny shot at him angrily, as she glanced down at her watch again and started tapping her foot from both impatience and nerves.

"But aren't you though? I mean… the suit kind of does give it away", the English remarked. "A school like that takes money", he added wisely.

"Or just brains, but you wouldn't think that seeing as though you obviously lack of a certain level of intelligence yourself", she stated before she could stop herself and when the English's face turned into a dangerous scowl, she regretted saying anything and glanced at her watch again.

She heard a laugh from in front of her and turned her gaze onto the blonde again.

"It's funny that you have titled both of us stupid but you're the only one here who seems to be", his words were deadly.

"Because I supposedly don't know who you are?", Jenny rolled her eyes irritably, tapping her foot faster as her fear and annoyance grew.

"Exactly", he answered. His arms crossed in front of him as he watched her with narrowed eyes and an amused smirk which was entirely fake since she could sense the underlying threat of it.

"Okay then, let me guess… you're a bunch of feared, drug dealing, law breaking, gang members or serial killers and everyone knows who you are because you're like so bad", Jenny's anger had the sarcastic remark coming out before she could even try and stop herself, but when she saw the entertainment dancing in the blondes eyes she knew that something she had said was right and she swallowed nervously. Cursing herself.

The English beside her stated laughing hysterically again but the blonde still watched her closely.

"Well, well, well", he drawled in a humorless tone. "I guess you did know."

Jenny heard the bus coming down the road and a feeling of relief washed through her as she grabbed her bag and flung it over her shoulder, standing up quickly.

The blonde tilted his head to the side. "I still didn't get that apology, darling."

"My name's not darling", Jenny corrected, although it flattered her that he thought so about her.

He chuckled softly. "Isn't it though?", he asked, even more amusement dancing through his eyes. She had no idea why he was finding himself so comical.

"No, it's not", she said again as the bus roared towards her and stopped before them.

"Bye, sweetheart! It was a pleasure", the English called, smiling at her, still from his seated spot on the bench.

The blonde chuckled softly as she passed him. "I will get that apology of yours, darling", he said, smirking at her as she climbed onto the bus, ignoring the feeling of his eyes burning into her back.

"You okay, sweetie?", the driver asked as soon as she entered the bus fully.

"Yeah", Jenny answered in relief, placing a few quarters into the fee box by the door.

The driver made a quiet disapproving noise. "You shouldn't hang with those boys, they're all bad news", he remarked, glancing at the men outside with an odd look in his eyes.

Jenny didn't reply and just nodded as she walked to the back of the bus. She gazed out the window and saw the blonde still standing there, following her with his eyes as she took her seat. When her eyes unconsciously darted to where he was standing again, her breath caught as she saw him break her gaze and walk to the bus doors.

The driver hesitantly opened them again and the blonde climbed on and strode past the now startled driver and started walking to where she was seated.

He stopped in the aisle beside her seat and leaned down slightly, bracing himself with one hand on the seat in front of her and the other on the back of her seat.

"By the way", he smirked. "My name's Nate", was all he said before walking back towards the doors, but before he stepped entirely down the steps he turned and winked at her and then jumped off.

The driver shut the doors a minute later after waiting the mandatory amount of minutes that he had to at every stop and eyed her warily in his mirror before driving off.

She looked out her window and saw the two boys watching the bus leave and then walk across the street to get to a BMW that was parked in a small parking space there and speed off quickly.

She let out a sigh of relief and went to pull out her croissant but then realized that she had no longer appetite. Of course she had to run into a bunch of ego-maniac criminals.

Feeling eyes on her yet again, she looked up to see the bus driver watching her and then shake his head disapprovingly and she narrowed her eyes at him curiously before looking back down to her book.

She sighed, not being able to concentrate on the words at all. That was one of the craziest encounters of her life. And now she couldn't get the pair of dangerous, crystal blue eyes out of her head.

She was really going to kill Blair.

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><p><strong>That was the start. Hope you liked it and let me know what you think. I'll try to update constantly, but can't promise as work is currently quite crazy. <strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you so much for the reviews, it means a lot. I'm so glad that you liked the start. Here comes the next chapter - read and review! **

Disclaimer: I owe nothing from Gossip Girl or Twelve (sadly). This story is just my imagination speaking.

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><p>"Okay, Humphrey. You're spacing out and that's not normal. Especially for <em>you<em>. Maybe for someone like Penelope, but not you. So cut the crap and tell me what the hell's going on", Blair demanded as she shut her locker on Friday and turned to face Jenny. "Trouble in paradise again with Prince Charming?"

Jenny rolled her eyes. "Blair, Lucas and I broke up two months ago. And you know that."

"You say that as if I keep up with the Brooklyn gossip. Not that there is anything interesting to know about it", Blair stated without an ounce of sympathy. "What is wrong with you then?"

"Nothing", Jenny sighed out.

Nothing, except for the fact that she couldn't get that pair of blue eyes out of her head for the past entire week. She couldn't get his words out of her mind, his voice, his smirk… he was literally driving her insane, and he wasn't even around. But mostly she didn't even know him! She had only seen him that one time, for a few minutes. But there was that certain something _about _him that had remained with her. Something about the amusement in his eyes, and then seriousness at the same time. The way he had looked at her. The danger, the mystery.

But she didn't even know him. His name was Nate, he was probably in some kind of gang and he had a very creepy best friend. That was it. A fifteen minute acquaintance was plaguing her thoughts.

"Do you know a lot about Manhattan?", Jenny asked all of a sudden, realizing immediately how stupid it sounded.

Blair glared at her suspiciously. "What kind of question is that? I've lived here my whole life. Are you sure you're okay?"

"I didn't mean it like that", Jenny shook her head at her own question. "I was just wondering…", she started but trailed off mid-sentence, not wanting to say the wrong thing.

"Wondering…?", Serena echoed, approaching the two girls with Penelope trailing behind her.

"Have you ever heard of any gangs in Manhattan or the area around here?", Jenny asked hesitantly. "And I mean actual gangs. Not just a bunch of high-school kids who give themselves a brand name to be cool or so."

"Of course", Serena smirked, her face hungry for gossip. "The question now is, why do you want to know?"

"I was just wondering. We have some in Brooklyn", Jenny responded quickly, trying not to meet Blair's suspicious eyes. "Are the ones you know of…dangerous?"

Serena grinned and sent her a condescending look. "Depends on which ones you're talking about, but in the big world Jenny, gangs are usually dangerous."

Blair stepped in front of Serena, forcing Jenny to meet her eyes. "Why do you want to know? Are you thinking about doing an article about gangs for our school paper? You have to know that Masterson and Lynch tied bandanas around their heads once and tried to start their own 'gang' back in ninth grade. For three entire weeks they acted even more ridiculous than usual and put all of us through hell with their attempt at talking gangster. An article might convince these idiots to try again."

"I was just curious. And I'm not planning on joining the news paper", she immediately defended her interest in gangs.

"Something had to make you curious though", Serena stated knowingly.

Jenny considered telling them but then decided against it. "I just heard some people talking in the restroom. I just thought where the differences between Brooklyn and Manhattan are."

"The only gang Manhattan has is probably the butter-cream gang. Some undereducated kids hanging out at the Butter and thinking they are cool in some way", Blair snorted sarcastically.

Jenny smiled at her reference. "The butter cream gang Blair?"

"I don't get it", Serena looked puzzled, trying to comprehend Blair's latest comment.

"You wouldn't", Blair replied offhandedly, flipping through her notes.

"Well then", Serena turned her back to Blair with a roll of her eyes. "Jenny, are you coming to the masquerade ball at Saturday?"

Jenny sighed in relief at the subject change as she contemplated the blondes question. It wasn't like Serena or any other fellow Constance girls to let a party like that flow by without buying a new dress and style up as there was no tomorrow.

Jenny had the invitation still laying on her bedroom desk. Though it was pretty much void now seeing as the whole school, and not just the specific people who had been invited, had found out and pretty much everyone was trying to be there, invitation or not.

When she had received her invitation during the last week, she hadn't even thought about going due to the Kiss on the lips event. But now she figured it would be a good distraction and a way to clear her head or at least try to. Even if it meant to hang out with Blair, who might end up being totally bitchy about everyone and everything. It was still better than the alternative of staying home alone while her dad was out on a date.

"Jenny, earth to Jenny", Penelope's laugh brought Jenny from her thoughts.

"Spacing out again", Blair stated from beside her, rolling her eyes.

"So, are you coming?", Serena repeated.

Jenny nodded, grabbing her bag and shutting her locker. "I have nothing else to do, so… yeah, I guess I can. Just need to find a mask but that shouldn't be a big issue."

Serena's face lit up instantly. "Good. We'll meet whenever you arrive." She said before making her way down the hall and into her next class.

"I wanted to get there at ten. Meet me out front?", Blair asked.

"Will do", Jenny replied before heading from school.

She only had to wait about three minutes at the bus stop before her bus arrived, but they somehow felt like forever. She found herself subconsciously gazing around every few seconds but not a single person was near. When it finally arrived she climbed on quickly and sat down in her usual seat with a sigh. School day was finally over. The bus started moving again and she felt eyes on her, looking up to catch the bus drivers eyes in the mirror. He shook his head disapprovingly as if he knew exactly what she was thinking about.

She shrunk in her seat. Those damn blue eyes.

XoXoXo

"It's about damn time. I thought you of all people would be punctual", Blair greeted as she leaned up against a large pillar in the hallway of the venue where the ball took place. She was wearing a wonderful blue evening gown with matching silver shoes, a purse and a silver mask with blue feathers at the side.

"My dad had an emergency and needed me to help him," Jenny apologized, circling a strain of her hair. She wore a burgundy evening dress, knee-length and body tight with matching black high heels. Her black lace mask partly hiding her face.

"An emergency?", Blair questioned.

Jenny shrugged. "He couldn't find his lucky boxers for his date."

Blair snorted. "Lucky boxers?"

Jenny half smiled. "Don't even ask."

"Blair, Jenny!", Serena greeted with a smile as she walked towards them, giving each of them a quick hug while trying not to spill the drink she was balancing in her hand. "You came!"

"You doubted we would?", Blair narrowed her eyes. "If you may remember, I organized this entire party. Without me no one would be here at all."

Serena just shrugged and motioned for them to give their coats to a guy by the entrance door. Jenny shrugged hers off and handed it over but Blair glared at him when he reached for hers.

"Easy, Blair", Penelope soothed as she joined them.

Jenny gazed around as she entered the main foyer. The place was packed and from the looks of it almost every person seems to have a blast.

"How long are you already here?", Jenny yelled over the music.

"About an hour. It took a bit til people finally started to party", Serena called back.

Blair stiffened at the short sight of a certain person. "When did Chuck get back?"

"A few days ago, I think. He's upstairs on the balcony with some of his friends", Serena answered and winked at a random guy walking by.

"Who's Chuck?", Jenny questioned, confused.

"Serena's druggie, destined for the big house, sort of a brother", Blair muttered with disgust.

"What can I say, when it comes to prescription pills he takes after pretty much every kid and adult of the UES", Serena forced a smile and started walking towards the main ball room. "I'll catch you guys later, I have to tell the DJ to change this song."

"You guys want something to drink?", Penelope asked, pushing two half filled plastic cups in their direction.

"Not that. Is there anything that's sealed or where I can watch the waiter fill it?", Blair asked.

Penelope nodded before walking away and returning a few minutes later with two sealed sodas.

"Probably the only safe thing to drink here", Blair stated before opening hers and taking a sip.

"Want to walk around and see what's all going on?", Jenny offered.

Blair rolled her eyes. "Oh yes, I want nothing more than to see my peers acting like idiots."

She smirked. "Let's go."

XoXoXo

About an hour later they found themselves back by the front area with Penelope and Serena, talking and watching Serena greet people every now and then when they walked by. Jenny sipped her drink and let her eyes wander as she tuned out Blair scolding Serena about greeting everyone who walked path them.

"…He got into some trouble in school and got kicked out. I think he's transferring to Princeton next month, but I don't know. He barely talks to us anymore. I don't even know where he is living at the moment", Serena explained and Jenny tuned back into the conversation, assuming Blair was questioning Serena about her stepbrother again.

"Idiot", Blair scoffed.

Serena grinned. "You know Blair, it sounds like you still have a crush on him."

"You're insinuating that I once had one. Which I didn't", Blair defended and Serena just gave her a sarcastic look, showing that she didn't believe a single word she said.

Jenny smiled in amusement at the two but then her smile faded as a chill went down her spine. She turned her head to look around at the sudden feeling that someones eyes were on her. But everyone seemed to be doing their own thing. No one was standing out. She wrapped one arm around her stomach and held her soda close to her chest.

A few minutes later and the feeling still didn't go away, she started to get anxious. She scanned the ball room again and then her eyes drifted from the stairs up to the second floor area and were met with blue. Her breath caught in her chest. Standing on the second floor with his arms leaning against the stairs railing looking down onto the first floor, was _him_.

And his eyes were fixated right on her. _How can he know that it is me?_

She was frozen as her mind scrambled. _What __i__s he doing here? Why would he be ___here___?_ She looked to his left and noticed the English standing beside him and talking to a few other guys. One had dark brown hair.

When she brought her eyes back to him again she felt that familiar cold chill come over her again and it only intensified as he smirked. The smirk that she couldn't forget about. She couldn't force her eyes from his. She just stood there, frozen. He was staring at her so intently and even though it looked like one of the other guys was trying to get his attention behind him, he didn't move. Didn't avert his gaze at all.

"Jenny", she thought she heard someone call but the voice was distant. "Jenny!", she heard again and tore her eyes away from his to meet Penelope's.

"What were you doing?", the brunette grinned amused.

Jenny shook her head to clear it before looking back up toward the second floor but he was gone. She looked around to see if he had just walked away but didn't see him anywhere. Oh god, had she just imagined him there?

"Nothing. I just thought I saw someone", Jenny explained and took a big gulp of her soda, her throat suddenly dry.

"Oh", Penelope grinned, obviously content with the answer. "Well… guess who just asked me to dance?"

"Tyler?" Jenny guessed, seeing as though Tyler was her newest crush of the week.

Penelope started to nod excitedly and Jenny forced a smile, trying to calm the uneasiness that had settled in the bottom of her stomach.

"Hello ladies."

The English accent had her spinning around without thinking and she knocked right into something solid.

Two hands were immediately placed on her upper arms as she steadied herself.

"You know Cinderella, you should really stop doing this. I might just start to think that you're running into me on purpose", Nate whispered.

She pulled her arms out of his grasp and took a step back. "You say that as if it's something that I would __want __to do", she countered, defensively. "And my name isn't Cinderella", she added, feeling small as he looked down at her.

He smirked, his eyes cold. "Hmm, I say it i_s_." His eyes tracked from her head to her toes and back up again. "It suits you", he added, his voice cold and superior.

"Umm… Aiden is upstairs, I think. Was he busy or something?", Jenny heard Serena's voice float in from somewhere behind her. She sounded unsure and uneasy, nothing like her usual bubbly confident self.

"We already talked to him", Nate snapped without even looking at the blonde, sounding as if he were pissed off that she had even addressed him.

His eyes remained on Jenny's and she couldn't force herself to look away so instead glared at him. If this was a staring contest, there was no way that she was going to lose.

"Nate. Chuck." Someone called and he hesitantly looked up, as a blonde boy Jenny assumed was a friend of theirs came over.

"What's up, Aiden? We were just saying hi to these lovely ladies." The English, now known as Chuck and Serena's stepbrother, grinned as he grabbed a beer from a random kids hand. Jenny watched in amazement as the kid, who she recognized from the St. Jude's soccer team, just walked away as if his drink wasn't stolen.

"Oh", Aiden glanced at the girls and turned his gaze again towards his friends, unsure what to do.

"Blair", Chuck grinned at her.

Blair simply focused on her champagne flute and glared at it, not meeting his eye or acknowledging him.

"So", Serena's unusually quiet voice broke through the moment of silence. "Jenny, you guys, how about we go get something to drink?", she offered, sending pleading glances to Jenny and Blair.

"She already has something to drink or are you to blind to see that?", Nate's patronizing retort had Serena blinking in surprise and quickly looking down at her shoes.

Jenny stood there shocked that no one looked phased by the way he spoke, not even Serena's own stepbrother.

Well she wasn't just going to stand there. "What's your problem?"

Everyone's attention turned to her and her stomach sank.

Nate raised an amused eyebrow. "_My _problem?"

"Yes, _you_. She didn't ask you, did she?", Jenny continued, summoning up every ounce of courage she had and glaring at him. She couldn't believe the way he just spoke to Serena. And even worse, she couldn't believe no one had said anything. Did he really just go around being rude to whoever he felt like? And did people really just allow it?

His eyes focused in on hers again. Cold, dangerous, and threatening.

He didn't say anything, just stared at her, and the silence was killing her so without another word she turned around and started to walk away. Relieved when she heard the other three girls quickly following her but could feel the cold blue eyes never leaving her back until she was out of sight.

"How do you know him?", Serena demanded as soon as they entered a side room.

Jenny exhaled and took a deep breath, her heart racing. " I don't. I just sort of ran into him earlier this month", she explained nervously. "Literally ran into him."

"Do you have any idea who he is?", Penelope's voice was quiet and awestruck. "I can't believe you just talked to him like that."

"Why shouldn't I?", Jenny asked, trying to sound confident but failing miserably as her voice came out choked.

"Because he's _dangerous_. I know it, everyone knows it", Serena answered matter-of-fact. "My brother… obviously knows him. He's not someone you want to get on the bad side of, trust me."

"And even though it sickens me to admit it. I agree", Blair chimed in. "I'm not afraid of him. But I'm not naïve enough to get caught up with those people or get on their bad side. It's just common knowledge, you see them and you walk the other way."

Serena nodded in agreement and then a look of realization dawned on her face. "That's why you asked us about gangs?"

Jenny nodded slowly.

"Well, now you know", Blair replied sarcastically before turning to Serena. "Your brother's an idiot. I thought he quit hanging around with them."

Serena shrugged. "I don't keep tabs on everything Chuck does. And after all, they are best friends for years. I doubt that he will ever let him hang."

They stood in silence for a few minutes and Jenny started to feel increasingly uncomfortable as people who passed by kept looking at her. Serena mumbled something about needing to check on something and Penelope followed her from the side room. Jenny and Blair silently made their way back out to the party area and when they didn't see him or anyone else he was with, Jenny breathed a sigh of relief.

Her gaze fell then on a familiar boy, that kept looking over at her as well. She smiled inwardly and decided to have a little fun. "Blair, I'll be right back. I just need to do a little payback", she said wickedly.

Blair gazed at her questionably, but just nodded in response as Jenny was already taking off.

Jenny walked over to where the boy stood, she stopped shortly in front of him and pretended to watch the dance floor. It only took two minutes and the boy stood next to her.

"Hello angel. Today must be my lucky night. May I say you look stunning tonight. You have an amazing taste", he immediately started to flirt with her.

_Ugh, can a guy be anymore ugly than this?_ Instead she just smiled at him. "Apparently not, I'm talking to you", she responded.

"Beautiful and mean, I get chills. Would you dance or have a drink with me?", Ashley continued his flirt, amazed by the girl in front of him.

Jenny was in full payback mode. "Why don't we skip this whole small talk and go somewhere quite to talk instead?", she asked seductively.

Ashley's heart started racing in an instant. This was a girl after his taste. "I get the champagne."

"Find me in five", Jenny replied nonchalantly, smiling evilly when he walked by her to get their drinks.

After a few minutes Ashley walked up to her again. She looked just as stunning from the back as she did from the front. This would be a hell of a night. "Boo", he only said when he reached her.

Jenny turned around and gazed him over, totally disgusted just by seeing him. "Let's play a game", she suggested, continuing her payback.

_I'm really going to enjoy this night,_ Ashley thought. "I would say let's play strip poker, but apparently I don't have my cards."

"Well then, how about hide and seek? You hide, and I'll seek", Jenny remarked sweetly.

"And how will you find me? I don't have any breadcrumbs", Ashley played along, loving this more and more.

"Well, you could leave me a trial...", Jenny stepped forward and brushed over his smoking jacket, "...with your clothes."

Ashley gazed into her marvelous blue eyes, not believing what he had just heard. "I've truly died and gone to heaven", he answered amazed, taking his jacket off and let it drop to the floor.

He walked over to a sideways door leading to the stairways, entering them to make Jenny follow him. Jenny watched him leave and decided to wait a little before she follows him, collecting his clothes to get her revenge.

She finally reached the roof, picking up his trousers. By now he should only wear his boxers and a wife beater.

"Feel free to find me", she heard him yell when she walked through the door.

"I found your pants", she replied in flirt mode.

Ashley got more and more aroused by this game. "You're getting warmer, which is an achievement seeing that you're already smoking hot."

Jenny only snorted over this remark. She couldn't believe how obnoxious this guy was. "Well then you better hope it doesn't get cold", she threw at him and walked back into the staircase, locking the door.

"What is that suppose to mean?", Ashley asked irritated before he heard the door close and lock. "Hey! What the hell? My phone is in my pants! I'm stuck out here, bitch!", he yelled when realizing that he was locked out.

Jenny made her way downstairs again, throwing away the clothes in the process. When she entered the ball again she went to find Blair. It only took her a few minutes when she found her friend boss around some of the waiters.

"God, if you don't do everything yourself", she muttered. "How has your task gone? Got your payback?"

Jenny smiled wickedly and nodded. "Yep, I doubt that Ashley will harass anyone tonight. He is chilling out on the roof."

Blair smiled approvingly and understood immediately. Nevertheless this whole party wasn't hers tonight. Even though she had planned it for weeks, she didn't feel like partying at all. She wasn't sure why, but maybe it had something to do with an earlier encounter.

"I'm going to go use the restroom and then we're getting the hell out of here", Blair muttered to her as she took off for the bathrooms. Jenny definitely wasn't going to protest. The sooner they left, the better.

"Where are all your friends?", a voice questioned from right behind her and she turned to find Nate standing in his suit in front of her, staring right at her. _Who would have thought he owns a suit? And damn, why must he look this hot in it?!_

She averted her eyes quickly and acted as if she hadn't even heard him. When she didn't say anything he stepped closer until he was mere inches away and smirked when she lifted her wary eyes to meet his. "That was quite a mean act that you pulled on Ashley. I'm impressed", his eyes danced with amusement.

"What are you even doing here? Don't you have better things to do besides crash a high school party and spy on people?", she asked as her eyes narrowed at him.

He made her uncomfortable and nervous. And she hated that. Even worse though, she was curious. Curious to know just who he was and what it was about him that had everyone bowing down. It was drawing her in and talking back to him seemed to be her only defense against these feelings he was evoking in her.

He smirked. "Actually… I do", he agreed. "But I believe you still owe me that apology and I figure it's as good a time as any to get it."

Jenny blinked in surprise. "You're still held up on that? Well you can get over it because you're not getting one. As I said before, you don't deserve one", she replied irritably before turning around to leave, but she felt a hand on each of her upper arms and a second later she was against a wall and he was pushed up against her.

"Now that's where you're wrong", he breathed out as she stared up into his eyes, shocked.

She couldn't move, she brought her hand up to his chest but couldn't push him away.

"And you _are _going to apologize", he whispered as he brought his face down to hers, barely any space between them and Jenny thought for sure that he was going to kiss her.

She opened her mouth to protest but no words came out.

He traced her bottom lip with his tongue and her heart stopped beating. "Now apologize", he ordered, running his tongue across her lips. Tracing them. When he caught her lip between his teeth and started to nibble, she gasped in surprise and he pulled back to chuckle.

Jenny opened her mouth again to speak and saw his smirk widen as no words came out.

"Just _do _it", he demanded as he pushed his body into hers more and started to trail kisses down her neck.

Why wasn't she pulling away? Why was her stomach doing flips and chills racing down her spine?

"I…", Jenny started, getting lost in the feelings he was sending through her and not wanting him to stop. Something inside of her was aching for him to kiss her but his lips and tongue remained on her neck, teasing her with soft kisses.

No one had ever kissed her there like that. Ever. She always wanted Lucas to do so, but he kept kissing her on the lips or give her short pecks on the cheeks. He was always the gentleman with her. Something her father always liked.

"Come on Cinderella, say it," he teased as he gently bit down on a spot he had been sucking on and a moan escaped her lips, shocking herself.

"I'm sorry", she managed to say and he stopped his teasing and raised his head up until his eyes were level with hers again.

"Now that wasn't so hard, was it?", he asked with a smirk before he connected his lips to hers. She knew by the intensity that he had wanted to kiss her just as much as she had wanted him to. Everything else disappeared and she was falling. She instinctively balled up the material of his shirt in her fists, as he moved his hands around her waist and pulled her until she couldn't be any closer to him, needing something to hold onto.

He traced her lips with his tongue as he pushed his body against hers into the wall and as she opened her mouth in surprise, he quickly darted his tongue to meet hers. The kiss deepened as she started to kiss him back, not being able to or wanting to do anything else. His tongue outlining every part of her mouth as if trying to memorize it. His hands worked their way down her thighs and back up again, leaving a burning sensation on her skin. He gripped her thigh with his hand, his fingernails grazing her skin and she shivered from his touch.

"Archibald!" Someone called and he hesitantly broke the kiss and rested his forehead on hers before letting out an angry growl and turning to face who had called his name.

"What?", he snapped and Jenny flinched underneath him.

"Cedric's down in West Village", the guy told him and Jenny furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, trying desperately to catch her breath but finding it hard to since his body was still pressed into hers.

"Fuck", he cursed and hit the wall behind her, making her jump. "I'll be out in a minute", he told the guy before looking back at her with a lustful look in his eyes. His eyes looked almost black now.

Jenny opened her mouth to say something but he just took that as an opportunity and crushed his mouth to hers again. She was once again lost in the kiss. It was fast and demanding as his tongue collided with hers and he gently sucked on her bottom lip before biting it and pulling back to smirk at her.

"I'll see you later, Cinderella", was all he said before winking and walking toward the front door.

Jenny's chest rose and fell rapidly as she tried to steady her breathing and she placed her hands on the wall behind her for support.

"What the _hell _was _that_?", Blair demanded in shock as she walked up to her.

Jenny blinked and looked down the floor way, not even acknowledging Blair's question because she didn't have an answer. She shook her head in disbelief of what had just happened. He had just kissed her. And she had let him. She had wanted him to. And she had kissed him back. She brought a finger to her lips that were swollen and burning. A mixture of fear, confusion and want coursing through her body as her heart raced.

Wondering why when he _said see you later _it sounded more like a promise than anything else.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far, it means so much! Let's go for the next round and let me know what you think.**

Disclaimer: still don't owe anything of GG or Twelve

* * *

><p>"So…", Eric started as he walked over to where Jenny was seated the following Monday morning at their favorite diner and sat down opposite to her in the booth. "How was that ball you went to? Any hot boys around?"<p>

Jenny narrowed her eyes suspiciously at Eric's all too knowing smirk. "Why are you looking at me like that? What do you know?"

"What do you mean, what do I know?", Eric feigned innocence and then a smile covered his face. "So something _did _happen this weekend? Something I should know of? Something of importance?"

Jenny's mouth dropped. "How could you possibly know that something happened?", she blurted and then cursed herself. "Not that something did. Not at all."

Eric raised an eyebrow and rolled his eyes. "Well…", he drawled out, leaning over the table to bring his head closer to hers while he propped his chin on his hand. "You come in here with me, barely talking to me when you normally talk my ear off. You've been staring at your coffee for the past five minutes without even drinking it and you didn't notice at allwhen Lucas strutted in with his new girl and Charlie kicked him out so the sight wouldn't hurt you."

Jenny blinked in surprise, her head shooting up to look around. "Lucas came in?"

Eric nodded. "Exactly my point", he stated. "Now tell me, what's up? What happened at that ball?"

Jenny could clearly envision the conversation in her mind. _Well Eric, my best friend… earlier this week I ran into this very cute and hot bloke, which turned out to be a kind of a gang member or so. And this weekend he was surprisingly at the masquerade ball and he pushed me against a wall and forced me with his tongue on my neck to apologize for calling him an idiot during our first encounter and then we sort of made out. I know, I know, I shouldn't have done it as I don't know him. He's dangerous, mean and older than I am, but everything's ok, you know__. I mean – he really is hot and he can kiss…_

Yeah, that wasn't going to happen. Unless she wanted him to get a stroke or slap her until her senses would come back to work properly again.

"Nothing", she muttered unconvincingly.

Eric rolled his eyes. "Fine, you'll tell me later. You'll always do", he stated and Jenny half smiled at him, relieved that he wasn't going to push further right now. She could never keep anything from Eric, that was true, but this thing with Nate, she just might. Knowing Eric as well as she did, she knew he would most likely flip and drive every day to Manhattan just to drop and pick her up from school so she wouldn't run into Nate again. Something that she wasn't sure of, if she wanted it to stop.

Eric was like a big brother to her, very protective and that was because he knew way to well the world wasn't as perfect as people made her to be. Growing up in different areas of New York he had his share of experiences proving that. He knew how dangerous people could be. So if she did tell him, he wouldn't take it well.

As a kid he moved around a lot with his mother. Never really staying long in one place. That changed when he was fourteen and stayed with his aunt in Brooklyn, who lives in the same block as Jenny and Rufus. Even though he is one and a half years older than Jenny, they immediately became friends when they first met. Best friends, who could always rely on the other and share their deepest secrets.

And now, call her naive, but she didn't really think she had anything to worry about really. She'd seen Nate two times on pure coincidence. If she avoided Serena's house at all costs due to her stepbrother who might hang out there with him and if she wasn't late for her bus anymore, she would probably never have to see him again.

She didn't expect to. She didn't _want _to. Well, that's what she was telling herself over and over again even though she still couldn't get those blue eyes out of her head. She couldn't forget the feel of his lips, the pure sensation they had evoked in her. The explosive feelings he sent through her body with just one single touch of his hand. She definitely shouldn't feel that way. He had practically threatened her to apologize and then taunted her, knowing full to well she was reacting to him, just to _get _that apology. She should have been scared, horrified. But something deep down inside of her wanted urgently to see him again. Something inside of her wanted to know more about him.

Not to even mention the feelings that flooded her body as he kissed her. She had never felt anything like that before. She never believed she could either. And then the dizziness and confusion as soon as he pulled away. He had made her lose her mind with one simple kiss. And he knew it. She only wondered if she had had that effect on him as well. He made her want things she had never wanted before.

Why had he even kissed her? At first she figured it was really all part of his little game to get her to apologize. But then even after she did, when he really kissed her… the way he did it, made it seem like he was longing to let her know that it was driving him just as crazy not to kiss her as it was her. Maybe it was a little thing that was telling her that he got her, that he made her apologize. But then he didn't pull away.

And on top of that, he kissed her goodbye with such ferocity that she almost collapsed. If it hadn't been for him holding her up, she probably would have. She could still feel his touch. The innocent way he first grabbed her sides. It was controlling and gentle all at the same time. And the way he grabbed her legs and sent shivers up her spine, pulling her to him like he couldn't get enough of her.

She shook her head to clear it as she left Charlie's and made her way to the bus stop to head to school trying desperately to think of something else but couldn't.

It was going to be a long day.

* * *

><p>"Blair told me."<p>

Jenny eyed the blonde who was waiting for her by her locker carefully. "Told you what?"

Serena rolled her eyes. "Don't act stupid, Jenny. You made out with Nate Archibald", she accused and then shook her head with wide eyes. "And even as I say it again, I still can't believe it."

"I didn't _make out _with him", Jenny denied in a whisper and turned to shoot daggers at Blair.

"You didn't?", Serena repeated sarcastically, now smirking knowingly. "Blair wasn't the only one who _saw the two of you_."

Jenny's eyes widened as she gaped at Blair. "Who else saw?", she demanded.

"So you admit it."

Jenny glanced at Serena. "We didn't make out…_he _kissed me. Not the other way around."

"But you kissed him back", Penelope stated from Serena's side. When Jenny sent her a look she quickly added. "Tracy Hickman saw you two and told me that you were pretty into it."

Jenny could feel her face heat up. "People are talking about it? Why? I'm not popular, I just started school here. And he doesn't even go to this school. How do they even know him?"

"We told you. Everyone knows Nate", Serena murmured.

"So you can see why people are talking. Jenny-perfect little girl-Humphrey making out with bad boy Nate Archibald", Penelope half smiled.

"Quite the shock. So of course people talk", Serena shrugged. "Especially because Nate isn't nice to anyone, and yet he let you talk back to him and insult him in front of everyone at the ball only to end up kissing you...that makes no sense to anyone… unless…"

"Well, they can stop talking", Jenny cut her off, pulling her bag close to her and looking around, noticing a few stares from people walking by. "I don't even know him. I didn't ask him to kiss me. I will probably never see him again. So they can just… forget it."

"Well they won't. But anyways…", Serena smiled. "Is he really as good as the rumors say he is?"

Jenny rolled her eyes. "Why don't you find out yourself?"

Serena laughed. "Didn't you hear him last night? He dislikes me. Actually he dislikes the most people. You're for whatever reason an exception", she muttered the last part with sarcasm.

"I don't know why either, if it makes you feel any better. And just for the record, I just want to forget that I even met him. God, I can't believe people are actually talking about it", Jenny said exasperated. Embarrassed at the fact that people were talking about the only one moment in her life that she lost complete control of herself.

"You're in high school. What do you expect? Of course people talk and gossip about everything", Blair stated, sounding annoyed. "…and they are saying a lot of different things."

Jenny opened her mouth to speak and then just shut it and shook her head in denial. "I don't want to know."

Serena went to say something but the ringing of the bell cut her off and without another word they all set off for their first class.

She wasn't oblivious to all the eyes on her as she walked down the hall and when she entered her class but she just kept her head down and took her seat, waiting for the teacher to begin.

It was high school. It wouldn't take long for someone to do something more scandalous and soon everyone would forget what had happened. She heard her name whispered and rolled her eyes. And she hoped that that something would happen soon or it would be a long senior year.

* * *

><p>"You can't blame me alone for what happened. How was I supposed to know that they were serious?" Serena asked innocently but the tiny smile on her face gave her away as Penelope, Blair, Jenny and herself were walking out of school after the last class.<p>

"Seeing them making out on several occasions and walking around school hand in hand, didn't give you a clue?", Blair asked sarcastically and Jenny laughed.

"Maybe a little. But, she stole my last boyfriend first. I would say we're even now", Serena defended. "And for the record, he came to me willingly. I didn't force him to do anything he didn't want to do."

"Wait, I thought you went to his house? Isn't that what you told me earlier?" Penelope asked, confused.

"Minor detail who went where", Serena laughed and waved it off.

"She's hopeless", Blair muttered to Jenny.

Serena suddenly stopped in her tracks, causing the other girls to nearly run into her. "Well, I'm not Nostradamus but I doubt that those rumors will end any time soon, Jenny."

"What?", Jenny asked and then followed Serena's gaze and froze.

There he was; leaning against one of the stone walls that held up the gate to the school ground. His bike parked a few feet away on the sidewalk.

"What is he doing here?", Blair demanded accusingly. "Did you know he was going to be here?"

"No", Jenny breathed, totally confused over his presence.

Everyone was silent for a while until Serena couldn't take it any longer. "Well, this is very interesting", Serena mused.

Jenny swallowed. "Maybe he's waiting for someone."

"Yeah…_you_", Serena answered.

At that moment he looked up and his eyes met Jenny's, a smirk making its way onto his face.

"No", Jenny denied instantly. "Why would he? He's obviously waiting for someone else. Someone he knows."

She spoke more to convince herself than the others. She took a deep breath and made her way towards the gate to get to her bus stop, planning on just passing him quickly but stopped in her tracks when she heard a laugh come from him. She turned to glance at him, only to find him watching her with his hands in his pockets and his head cocked to the side.

"Where are you going?", he asked, his voice serious and holding no sign that he had just laughed.

"To my bus stop", she stated.

"Why?"

Jenny stared at him for a minute. "Well, that's how I get home as I don't like to walk all the way", she spoke slowly in case he didn't catch on quickly, and he laughed. It wasn't an amused laugh though. It was deadly cold and sent chills through her body.

"No", he pushed himself off the wall and walked over to his bike. "I'm giving you a ride."

Jenny's stomach flipped. "Since when?", she asked sarcastically.

"Since I _said _I would", he countered, picking up a helmet and extending it to her.

Jenny crossed her arms defiantly. "And what exactly makes you think that I want a ride from you and that I will actually get on that thing?" She motioned towards his bike in disbelief. Her mind still tried hard to comprehend that he was here at all.

"Because I said you would", he stated and she stiffened, "...a_nd _because you're bus just left." He added, pointing to the bus that was now turning the corner away from school.

Jenny cursed under her breath. "Well, no thank you." She turned and started to walk away. "I'll just ask one of my friends for a ride."

"Just get on the fucking bike already", he said exasperated, traces of anger and irritation in his voice.

Jenny stopped and turned to look at him again. Her brain told her to walk away but her curiosity and everything else kept her there.

"You've got to be kidding me! Do you really think just because you show up here, I'd automatically go with you? And what makes you think that you could boss me around like that? Maybe it works with your gang friends, but not with me", she responded enraged and turned once more to go. "Hey Serena, could you give me a ride?"

The blonde stopped getting into the waiting town car and eyed Jenny closely. She nodded and waved her over. "Sure, come on, get in!"

"Are you serious? What is your fucking problem?", Nate spat out, now more pissed than ever. No one ever turned him down, it wouldn't start today.

Jenny shortly glanced back to him. "My problem is that you obviously don't know how to behave." With that said she walked over to Serena and got into the car, not believing that she had talked to him like that and mostly – that she had turned him down. In truth she badly wanted to get on that bike and get to know him. Find out who he really was.

Nate stood stunned at his bike. Watching the girl get into the car and its retreating form when it drove off. _What the hell did just happen?_ The question played in his mind over and over. Even after speeding off he couldn't think of anything else than the scene and her turning him down.

He came the entire week. Each day he stood after school at the gate, waiting for her. Offering her a ride home. Each day Jenny turned him down, even though she was more than eager to go with him. She had each day a different excuse why she couldn't go with him. But mostly she wanted to see if he really would work for it, and in her eyes he did just by showing up each day.

On the fifth day she didn't know anymore what she could say to prevent to ride with him. And due to their daily argument she had missed the bus again.

"I'm wearing a skirt", she replied this time lamely.

He looked her up and down before darting his tongue out to wet his bottom lip. "I don't mind."

Jenny glared at him.

"Are you done making up excuses? You did that already all week", he asked annoyed, tossing her the helmet and she caught it automatically. "Just get on the bike." He couldn't believe that he had made a fool of himself for the entire week by showing up each day and leaving by himself. He wasn't even sure why he did it at all.

She swallowed her throat dry. He had waited for her to get out of school, again, and was offering her a ride home, again. She had just missed her bus, again, and the next would drive in an hour. Serena and Blair had obligations with their families, so they were out of the question to give her a ride this time. Why not taking the offer? At least she wouldn't have to wait an hour at the bus bench. And he should give her a ride anyways as he was once again the reason she was so distracted and missed her bus again. Never would she admit that she actually enjoyed their game.

He stared at her with a bored expression, not giving away on how nervous he actually was. Rejection was something he wasn't used to, and the last few days had eaten at him. He had never met a girl that acted like her around him, and that intrigued him even more.

He smirked when she pulled the helmet hesitantly over her head and walked slowly towards the bike. Finally she had given in. He through a leg over and held out a hand to her.

Glancing at his hand, she shut out her thoughts that told her to run as fast and wide as possible and reached her own out, sliding it into his and held her skirt with her other one as she put one leg over the bike and sat down.

"Hold on", he ordered, gripping the handlebars.

Jenny put her hands on his shoulders, wanting to touch him as little as possible. Just touching his hand for a few seconds had sent electricity shooting through her body, setting it on fire. What would holding on to him do to her?

He shook his head. "I said 'hold on', unless you _want _to fall", he spoke the last part with sarcasm as he started the engine. She just held his shoulders a little tighter.

She heard him mutter something under his breath before lifting his feet and taking off. She jerked backwards at the speed and immediately wrapped her arms tightly around his waist and rested herself against his back. She felt his body shake with laughter underneath her touch and could just imagine the smirk on his face and glared at the back of his leather jacket.

Instead of turning towards the main street as she expected, he drove toward lower Manhattan and before she had a chance to tell him that he was going the wrong way he was already speeding towards the buzzing city, passing cars that were traveling at the legal speed limit (or way under due to the mass traffic) and turning down a side road.

He stopped the bike in front of a small coffee store and turned it off before slowly stepping off.

"Why are we here?", Jenny asked taking off her helmet and climbing off as well.

"I want a coffee, that's what these stores are made for", he shrugged, taking the helmet from her and setting it on the back of the bike.

"You want coffee?", she repeated in disbelief, glaring. She should have never gotten on his bike, this was clear now.

He just smirked, his cold eyes piercing straight into hers making her feel even more nervous. "You can leave your bag on the bike", he stated, pointing to the back of it.

Jenny looked at him like he was totally insane. They were parked on the sidewalk, in a street in New York; anyone passing by could just grab it!

"No one will take it. Don't worry", he told her as if he could read her mind.

Jenny narrowed her eyes. "How do you know?", she asked incredulously.

"Because people in this area know that this is my bike", he stated and at Jenny's pointed look added, "nobody will dare to touch it, unless they want to get in massive trouble with me." His voice was low and serious, making a cold chill race through her before he walked away toward the cafe. She stood for a while debating what she should do. She could just grab her bag and walk away, but looking around, she had to realize that she didn't know the hell where they were. She clearly never been to this part of New York.

So instead of leaving she set her bag grudgingly on the bike and followed him into the cafe.

"What do you want?", Nate asked already standing at the counter, and Jenny was surprised he even knew she was standing behind him. Was he really so sure that she wouldn't just leave?

"Just a coffee", she replied hesitantly, looking around and noticing a few people's eyes on them.

He ordered them both a large coffee and without even looking at her, walked over to an empty table and sat on one side and she slowly slid into the seat opposite him.

She usually felt at home in small diners like this, but for some reason she couldn't feel home here. Maybe it was the uneasiness which crept up her back that held her from relaxing.

She looked across the table to where he was sitting, relaxed, one arm over the back of the bench and his other hand on his coffee as he watched her. Meeting his eyes, she felt her face flush as she remembered the week before, to be exact their encounter at the ball.

"So Cinderella…", he looked so calm and collected but his voice was still dangerously cold. "Constance and St. Jude's still as shitty and dull as it always was?"

"You went to St. Jude's?", Jenny blurted out, before she even had registered that he hadn't called her by her right name or that he was interested in her school at all.

He just smirked and looked out the window next to him.

Neither one of them spoke and silence took over, laying above them like a blanket. Jenny started to fumble with the hem of her skirt, feeling more awkward with each second passing by. She could see out of the corner of her eye that people were looking strangely at them and she wondered if it was possible that they knew him. And if so, why? Was he really that…_notorious_? What did he do to receive this status? Or was it just like at high school and people only kept gossiping, blowing a situation way more up than it really was.

She took a deep breath. "Why did you offer all week to take me home? I mean, why did you come at all and how did you know when I would be done?", she asked, breaking the silence and Nate's eyes landed on hers again. His face straight, showing no sign of emotion.

"Do you like to ride the bus?", he asked simply, his expression never changing.

"I ride it every day. It's my way to get home", Jenny stated. She didn't know how she could feel so comfortable talking to him but she did. At least when he wasn't smirking or staring at her like he was going to do something unexpected. Like kissing her out of the blue.

"That wasn't my question. My question was, do you _like__ t_o ride it?", he repeated his question, while gazing at her.

"Do you know anyone who voluntarily rides the bus?", she questioned sarcastically back.

"My point", he took a long drink of his coffee and observed her again.

"That wasn't my question either. Why did you offer me the ride?", she tried again, shifting under his gaze but not willing to let him get away that easy. She wanted to know why he had come by all the time. She did notice that he somehow answered her questions without revealing too much, probably just as much as he wanted.

"Because I wanted to", he simply responded and shrugged.

"You wanted to?", Jenny couldn't suppress the sarcasm in her voice.

"Yeah", he kept his eyes on her as if reading her soul. As if the second he would look away she would disappear. "You want to continue your game of twenty questions?", he asked a little more amused.

Jenny took a deep breath. _She had dozens of questions, but where should she start?_

"What's your name?" It seemed the easiest, although she knew the answer. She just needed time to think a little straighter, or better she needed time to find the right phrasing for her questions.

He laughed. "I told you already, Cinderella. And I'm sure you've been told a lot about me by now, so you probably already know my last name, too. Correct?"

Jenny looked down. "Yes", she answered honestly. "How old are you?"

"You're really into this, aren't you?"

"You asked if I wanted to continue my questions. And as I don't know anything about you, except from your name, and you'll be driving me home, I think I deserve to know a little more about you. Don't you think?", she stated as confidently as she could.

He nodded, his icy dangerous eyes still fixated on hers. "Twenty-one."

So he wasn't that much older than her, just as she thought. "And you're in a… gang or something like that?", she inquired cautiously.

He smirked at her, his eyes teasing. "Maybe, or maybe not", was all he said.

Jenny narrowed her eyes. "Okay…", she saw that some more people were looking towards them and shifted uncomfortably. "Why are these people looking at us? It's not un-normal for two people to have coffee together", she murmured, as in finding the answer by asking the question silently. Nate did hear here though and she immediately regretted that she said it at all.

Nate looked around the cafe, his face cold. "As far as I remember I'm not Matthew McConaughey or any other celeb. So how about you minding your own business or are two people drinking coffee so interesting that you can't keep your eyes away?", he asked loudly and the diner fell into silence as people looked away instantly. There was another few seconds of quietness before people started moving again, including the waitress who also had stopped in her tracks at his words.

Embarrassed and at the same time amazed, Jenny swallowed and realized that her throat was dry she took a sip of her coffee and slowly met his dark eyes again.

"All out of questions, Cinderella?", he asked, not even phased that the whole cafe had actually listened to him.

Jenny watched him for a minute before speaking, keeping eye contact with him to try and make herself more confident. "Why did you kiss me at the ball?"

He darted his tongue out to wet his lips, a slow smirk sliding onto his face and she could have sworn she saw want flash through his eyes briefly before they were dark and cold again.

"You say that like you didn't want me to. Like you didn't enjoy it at all."

"I didn't say that…", Jenny said instantly and when realized what she had said she instantly blushed, he only smirked more over her statement. "Why _did _you?"

"Because I wanted to", he shrugged again and Jenny sighed.

"Is that your response to everything?"

"Nope, not at all, but for now", he stood up. "I'm done. Let's go and get you home", he said before throwing his cup out and heading for the doors.

Jenny got up and followed him, receiving weird glances from the customers of the cafe who now stared openly at her in the absence of Nate.

When she walked outside she saw Nate already standing by his bike waiting. And with huge relief she saw that her bag indeed was still resting safely on the back of his bike. So he had been right about it.

"Where do you live?"

She shifted, hesitating. "Williamsburg."

He looked up at her, extending the helmet. "So you really ain't one of those rich bitches."

She glared at him. "I wasn't aware that was my label in the first place", she shot back.

He smirked. "It wasn't mine. It was Chuck's. I'll have to tell him he was wrong about you and that he owes me five", he said as she put her helmet on and climbed on behind him, taking his hand for support and trying to ignore the burning sensation that his touch was evoking within her.

"Hold on", he said and this time she didn't resist and complied. She put her hands firmly on his stomach and felt his body tense underneath her fingers. The front of his jacket was open and with the thinness of his shirt underneath, she could feel the outline of his abs underneath her fingers. Very well defined abs, he clearly was working out.

Her breathing became ragged at the heat coming from his body and before she knew it they were on their way and headed towards Williamsburg.

A few corners away from the loft she suddenly felt anxious and tapped him lightly on the back to get him to stop and to her relief he pulled the bike over to the side of the road and turned it off.

"What?", he asked, turning around slightly.

"You can just drop me off here, I'll walk the last few meters", Jenny told him as she slid off the bike, straightened her skirt and removing her helmet.

"What? Afraid to be seen with a dangerous guy like me?"

"Yeah", Jenny admitted and he laughed, the sound making her stomach flip.

She grabbed her backpack and took a deep breath as she stepped up onto the sidewalk, making them not stand eye to eye.

"Well…um... thanks for the…", she started to stutter but was cut off as he grabbed her arm and pulled her forward making her body collide with his. His arm snaked around her waist as his lips pressed against hers. He slowly moved his lips with hers for a moment before darting his tongue out and tracing her bottom lip making her gasp and he quickly darted his tongue in to meet hers. Her book bag dropped to the ground as she placed her hands on his chest for support.

He sucked on her bottom lip hungrily and ran his tongue through the heat of her mouth before pulling away, sucking in a ragged breath and letting her go.

Jenny stood there speech- and breathless, looking at him as he mounted his bike and started the engine.

He turned towards her. "I'll pick you up after school on Monday, there's this place I want to take you to", was all he said before driving off, not allowing her to say a thing and she just stood there until he disappeared from her sight.

She raised her fingers to her burning lips, her breathing still heavy. He had kissed her again, and in such a way that she knew all too well it wouldn't be the last time.

So much for never seeing him again.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I owe nothing**

**I know a quite of you out there think it's weird that Nate is turned into a bad boy in this story, as Jenny had more that attitude. But I like the thought of a bad Nate, taking what he wants without regrets and second thoughts. I sometimes wished he would have been on the show like that. He was most of the time way to goody-goody for my liking. So sorry, in this story it's reverse ;) Hope you like it anyways...so here we go again. Read and review!**

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><p>When Jenny walked into Constance the following day she wasn't at all surprised to feel the eyes on her again as she made her way over to her locker. It was neither a surprise to see three girls that she had grown to like wait in front of it.<p>

"You seem fine. At least you're breathing", Serena indicated, looking Jenny closely over to check if the younger girl was alright.

"Yes, actually I'm breathing. Seeing that this is a necessary thing to do if you want to stay alive", Jenny replied hesitantly, giving the blonde a confused look.

"Well, we heard that a certain someone picked you up last Friday, and that this time you actually went with him. Therefore we thought about all different kind of things that could have happened to you…", Penelope explained with a half-smile to enlighten her friend. "It was after all quite surprising to hear you went with him after you've been so reluctant to not do so."

"And one of our many possibilities was that he came to pick you up, took you to a secluded spot and finally got back at you for talking back to him that way or having his way with you", Serena added, seriously. "I think the latter would be the more fun possibility."

Jenny's mouth fell open. She starred unbelieving at her friends. Of course it would spread fast that he had picked her up and this time she went with him.

"So as you can see, we were half expecting you to be absent from school today and maybe to see you on the news as a tragic murdered body found or something like that", Penelope elaborated.

"_Local girl found raped in ditch, gang involvement suspected_", Serena pointed an imaginary headline out in her best anchorwoman voice.

"Wow, thanks a lot", Jenny muttered, the disgust evident on her face. "You thought of all of that and didn't even consider giving me a call to see whether I was alright? The entire weekend over? Instead you chose to see if I would show up today at school. How … friendly."

"Well…yeah", Penelope stated as if it was the most obvious fact in the world.

"Well, we weren't exactly sure how long you were with him on Friday. You really would have wanted us to interrupt?", Serena asked dumbly.

Jenny just stared at them in astonishment for a moment before answering her. "I don't know. But yes, I guess so. If you were so concerned about my well-being. And there were two more days since where you could have called to check on me", she couldn't hide her sarcasm in her voice, although she tried.

"Anyway, it's not like anything happened, right? I mean, you're here – in one piece and you look healthy and all. So I guess we worried without a reason", Serena shrugged and flipped her hair over her right shoulder, Jenny just shook her head in disbelief.

"Forget them. If you believe that these assumptions are bad, you should wait until you hear what the rest of this school came up with. This is nothing against their stories", Blair closed her locker and pushed through her two friends to stand in front of Jenny and met her eye. "Now would you mind to enlighten us where you went to after getting on his bike? And why you changed your mind all the sudden."

"We only went for coffee and then he brought me home", Jenny replied simply, while she placed her books into her locker and searched for one of her folders. She didn't look at any of them to prevent from seeing their facial expressions.

When she realized that no one spoke up, she hesitantly turned around while shutting her locker again. She had been right not to look at them at first. All three had the same expression on their faces, pure shock.

"What?", she asked innocently, even though she already knew their reason to look at her in that way. She still tried herself to process what had happened. She got coffee with a known gang member at least that was told to her. After randomly hoping on the back of his motorcycle. Yeah, even a crazy person would think that was crazy.

"You went for coffee? With Nate Archibald?", Serena repeated slowly, trying to comprehend this fact.

"Yes", Jenny nodded and gripped her books a little tighter as she saw two guys from her match class walk by and wink at her. She narrowed her eyes in confusion. She had never spoken to them before and was quite sure they didn't even know that she was existing.

"Why are they winking at me?", Jenny asked with disgust as she realized that the guys eyes raked over her body.

Serena let out a laugh. "Seriously, Jenny? It's because every guy in this school thinks that you slept with Nate on the weekend, so now they want you too."

"They… what…_how_?", Jenny stuttered, feeling like a very cold wave of water had washed over her and knocked the air right out of her lungs.

"They obviously think you must be good, if Nate spends his time with you. He normally doesn't wait for girls of this school to pick them up. Why else would he be here all day and try to get you to go with him if not for sex? I heard Darren Mitchell talk about it this morning", Penelope enlightened her about some of the gossip going round.

"Darren Mitchell? The wannabe King of St. Jude's, asshole extraordinaire Darren Mitchell? The one that believes in that any girl he goes out with should be flattered that he takes her out? The one that thinks that every girl falls to his feet just because of his presence?", Jenny asked in shock.

"The one and only", Serena confirmed.

"Of course that's the only thing this man-whore is thinking about. But it's not surprising considering that he only has one brain cell", Blair added with loathing. It was known that Darren and her were sworn enemies ever since Darren had tried to pull her skirt down in fifth grade.

"Why would they… do they really think that?", Jenny placed a hand to her stomach, suddenly feeling as if she was going to throw up in any second.

"Oh yeah, after all getting on his bike in front our school wasn't the most secretive way to leave this place", Serena stated matter-of-fact. "Everyone who had finished class saw you leaving with him."

"But why would they think that I…", Jenny started but stopped midsentence when she saw a couple of girls looking at her strangely and whispering to each other. She got again a weird feeling in her stomach and turned her back to the girls.

"Like I said before Jenny, Nate is not the most communicative guy. He barely talks to people, except for his very close friends. And those you can count on one hand, as I heard. But for some reason he likes you. He showed up every day after school and waited for you. So what exactly do you think people are thinking? Definitely not that you went with him for coffee", Serena explained her, looking in awe again as she said the last part.

"You didn't sleep with him. Did you?", Penelope bluntly asked.

"No!", Jenny exclaimed and received a few stares from people which were standing close or walking past in the hallway they were in. "Of course I did not! I just met him", she hissed, lowering her voice so only her three friends could hear her.

"I told you she wouldn't be so stupid", Blair smiled at Serena gloriously.

"Wait, you actually thought I would? I don't even know him!", Jenny looked at Serena accusingly.

"What?", she asked, flipping her hair over her shoulder when she grabbed her book bag a little tighter. "If I had the chance I would. I mean, every girl in its right mind would do it. Come on, have you really looked at him? It doesn't matter what he said to me, with that body, those blue eyes…", she said, trailing off and whistling.

"Way to set your criteria, van der Woodsen", Blair scoffed.

Serena just shrugged and looked back at Jenny, her eyes turning serious.

"So you say that you only went for coffee? Nothing else?", she prodded and they all looked at Jenny, waiting eagerly for her response.

"Yes", Jenny answered. "Some little cafe in town", she added, trying to find something to say when no one else said anything back to her and only kept staring at her like she was some alien.

"God this is crazy, I'm going to have a heart attack or so", Serena shook her head. "I feel like I'm in some kind of parallel universe. If you had told me three weeks ago that Nate Archibald would take our Jenny for coffee – I would have sent you straight to asylum."

"And what happened then? After you drank that coffee?", Blair inquired.

Jenny shifted under their intense gazes, feeling more and more like she was under investigation than at school. "I already told you, he drove me home."

"To Williamsburg?", Penelope asked quickly.

"That is where she lives, isn't it?", Blair answered sarcastically. "That must have been quite a picture; him driving you to your place and letting you off in front of it."

"I…umm…we stopped a few streets away", Jenny admitted shyly.

"Smart move of yours. Although Rufus is way cooler than any dad out there, I doubt he'd be happy to see you with him. So that's it? He dropped you off and left?", Blair requested, the other two still not saying anything but watching the entire scene like a suspense movie and were awaiting something dramatic to happen at any given second.

Jenny gazed down, her cheeks started to heat up at the memory of the events of the day before, especially their goodbye. She mumbled something under her breath and remained gazing onto the floor.

"Sorry, I didn't catch that. What did you say?", Serena replied quickly, looking at her like she was the eight world wonder.

"I said…", Jenny started, taking a deep breath, "he kissed me goodbye and then told me that he would pick me up again today because he wanted to show me some place." Jenny finished, feeling slightly better that she had told someone but immediately regretted it when she saw that Serena looked like she was going to faint the next moment.

"And you're planning to go with him?", Blair asked anxiously. "Are you totally out of your mind?!"

"God Blair, could you scream a little louder? I'm sure China hasn't heard you yet", Jenny hissed, looking around nervously. "I don't know yet. Maybe…he was nice and friendly to me", she lied.

She had been thinking about it ever since he had left her. During dinner, while she did her homework, as she slept. His words were running through her head on repeat. She already knew that she wanted to go. There was something about him that made her want to do whatever he said, and she was pretty sure she would. He had done what he said, he drove her home and nothing more. He didn't harm her, so why shouldn't she go a second time with him. To get to know him better. It couldn't hurt, could it?

"Oh yes, you'll go with him", Serena smirked and then let out a girly giggle. "This is just… wow."

Jenny shifted uncomfortably.

"You know, this is all because of your stupid step-brother", Blair pointed at Serena with a scowl on her face.

Serena smirked even wider. "Right, my stupid step-brother, who won't stop texting me and asking about you since he saw you at the ball again. I hadn't had that much contact with him in months." Blair's face turned red instantly.

"It's not that big of a deal, really", Jenny sighed. Wanting the day to be over now. "Did you guys have trouble with the history work last night too?", she asked, hoping for the change in subject.

Serena gave her a pointed look and smiled. "Real smooth. Nice try."

"So that's it. You're just going to go with him? Like it's the most normal thing to do after school", Blair asked, rolling her eyes. "I think you're totally insane."

"Sure someone must be insane. The world would be too goody-goody if there weren't at least a few people that go crazy once in a while", Serena agreed. "I'm probably one of them."

"We are very aware of that fact", Blair muttered as the bell rang.

"Well, we should better go to class unless you'd like to get some detention", Jenny encouraged with a smile, relief evident on her face that she could finally get away from the investigation of her friends. The other three just stared at her with pointed looks before turning and walking to their first period class.

Jenny let out a breath and walked with them, trying to ignore the fact that everyone she passed was staring right at her.

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><p>At the end of the day, Jenny didn't protest in the slightest when Blair, Penelope and Serena insisted on walking her out of school. She was massively nervous if he would stand to his word and wait for her again.<p>

And sure he was, much too even Jenny's surprise. Although she had wished the entire weekend for it to happen. So why being surprised?

He sure seemed like the kind of guy who always did what he said he would. The kind of guy who lived his life just the way he wanted to. She had thought more than once over the weekend that there was no reason for him to show up again. That he probably realized after leaving her that there was nothing fascinating about her at all.

But nevertheless, here he was outside her school again.

Just like the entire week before, he was leaning against the stone pillar. A cigarette in his hand while he was inhaling the smoke. He stared intently down on the ground, a bored expression on his face. People, who came out of school noticed his appearance and immediately started to discuss his reason on being there. A couple of girls walked by and tried to get his attention, but he just stood stoic in his spot, not even giving them a single glance.

Darren Mitchell and his posse were on their way out to get to their awaiting cars, looking first at her and then to Nate, staring intently. Trying to figure out what was going on between the two of them.

"Well…", Serena whispered, "he's here."

"Yeah", Jenny shuffled her feet, her voice similar silent to Serena's. "I guess, I'll see you guys tomorrow then." She ignored Blair's disapproving look, gave them a short smile and started to make her way over to him.

"Not if we see you on the news first", Serena joked. Jenny turned to her and glared but Serena only winked, "have fun. And don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

Jenny just shook her head and continued walking over to where he was standing, waiting for her. When she was just a few feet away from him he finally gazed up, his eyes landing right on hers and she stopped in her tracks, frozen.

"You ready?", was all he asked, as he pushed himself off the pillar easily and started to walk towards his bike.

"I guess…", Jenny replied hesitantly, not sure if she really should go with him. He seemed so calm, so natural and she was more nervous than she had ever been in her entire life. Why was that so?

At her hesitant voice he turned to her and a small smile sneaked up on his face as he raised an eyebrow and looked her over. "Are you coming then to get the helmet?", he asked in amusement.

Jenny broke her gaze away from his and looked at the helmet that he was holding out to her. She smiled anxiously, taken aback by his playful tone, and walked over to where he was.

In the moment she reached for it, he pulled him away and grabbed her wrist instead, dragging her against his body. His lips eagerly met hers and he brought his hand to her back and pulled her even closer. His lips moved slowly over hers, so soft and tender, not pushing for anything further and making her heart beat rapidly.

When he finally pulled back, she opened her eyes quickly, disappointed by the lack of contact only to find black in front of them as he put the helmet on her head. She flipped the screen up and saw him smirking at her. He walked over to his bike and straddled it, turning around to clip her bag to the back of his bike before holding out his hand to help her on it.

Jenny just stared at him dumbly for a minute still trying to comprehend the previous activity, before walking over and getting onto the bike slowly, holding her skirt and then sitting down. She turned toward the school and saw her friends looking at her, mouths agape, and she couldn't help but smile while the butterflies were still flying around and her lips still tingled from his previous ministrations. She flipped the screen down as she heard him start the bike and a second later, they were driving off down the road.

They zoomed through Manhattan, passing a zillion cars with ease and she wondered why no cops had stopped them yet since he was clearly well over the speed limit and many times, he was driving on the wrong side of the road, not paying attention to any existing road traffic act. She wondered if he even knew those rules. He drove quite fast and slid from lane to lane to pass cars, causing Jenny to hold on to him more tightly. She could feel him laugh as his muscles under his shirt were vibrating through it.

About fifteen minutes later they pulled down a road that was leading into an industrial area, at least it looked to Jenny that way. Warehouses lined the street as they drove down and they finally pulled up outside a tiny three story warehouse, a bit further away from all the other warehouses and Jenny felt her stomach drop, finally realizing the kind of danger she had gotten herself in.

She noticed a few other bikes similar to Nate's parked in front of the building as well as a few cars. The warehouse looked old and abandoned, as it wasn't used for years. The blinds were all shut and there was no sign of life inside or anywhere near it.

Her heart started to pound a little faster. Scared of what could happen, or what was awaiting her inside.

"I have to stop here first before we can head to our destination", Nate told her as he stepped off the bike and helped her to get off it too. Jenny accepted his hand hesitantly and then took off her helmet.

"And where exactly is here?", she asked, slightly angry and nervous that he once again chose to make a detour without asking her first. But she was even angrier at herself for her own complete stupidity to just step on his bike without even knowing him at all. The warehouse didn't exactly look welcoming; in fact it was the total opposite. What was she thinking?

He smirked at her. "Don't you trust me?", he asked amused as he took a step towards until he was right in front of her and she had to look up to see him. Jenny raised an eyebrow, an unsure look on her face.

"Have I given you any reason to doubt me, Cinderella?", he asked, his smirk never vanishing as he brought his face closer to hers.

Jenny took a deep breath and looked back and forth between the house and him. "No, but pretty much everyone else has who told me about you", she told him truthfully and he chuckled over her response.

"And do you always believe what everyone else tells you?", he questioned, his face even closer and his hands were placed on her upper arms. She could feel his breath brushing over her face, sending shivers through her.

"Should I believe them?", Jenny countered, trying to keep her voice strong although she was doing everything in her power to restrain the urge from kissing him. God, he had such an effect on her. This was crazy.

He snickered a bit, licking his lips carefully. Just a few more millimeters and he would have licked her lips as well. He stood too close for Jenny's liking but not close enough though. She really was going insane.

"Yeah, I'd say you should believe them", he admitted with a smirk before crushing his lips down to hers. His tongue quickly slipping into her mouth and jumbling with hers. This kiss was everything the one at the school hadn't been, intense and demanding as opposed to soft and tender. His tongue traced the inside of her mouth and his lips moved slowly with hers, sucking on whichever one was caught between his lips.

He pulled away from her, leaving her breathless but still staying close to her face.

"Fuck", he whispered huskily and Jenny just stared into his eyes, trying desperately to catch her breath as he stared back at her with lustful eyes. "Come on", he said, pulling back completely and licking his lips. "This is really just a short stop", he motioned for her to follow him into the building.

Jenny stood where she was for a second before following him. She had to run a bit to catch up with him and when she finally fell into place at his side, he turned to smile at her with amusement dancing in his eyes.

"Don't be worried. I'm not going to kill or rape you", he said sarcastically, but never losing his smirk.

Jenny glared at him. "Was that supposed to be a joke? If so, it wasn't a good one."

"Now why would I do something like that?", he asked mockingly, his voice filled with fake hurt.

Jenny just observed him and he walked up to the side door and held it open for her to walk through. She glanced at him nervously and then looked in the dark passageway behind the door. Nate sighed irritated and motioned for her to walk through.

"Come on Cinderella, we don't have all fucking day", he said impatiently and Jenny moved forward slowly and walked through the door, turning to watch him shut it behind them.

Straight ahead of them was a bigger room that looked like it used to be a document room and Nate walked forward into it. A few guys were sitting at a table playing a game of cards. In the middle of the table they had placed their biddings, money, cigarettes, car keys and a couple of tiny envelopes. Jenny was quite sure she didn't want to know what were inside of those.

"Archibald, what's up?", one guy called when seeing him enter the place, pulling a joint from his mouth. Jenny was sure it wasn't tobacco he was smoking; the smell was a dead giveaway. Although she had never tasted it herself.

"Nothing. Where's Lionel?", Nate asked, walking out of the room into the adjoined one and Jenny quickly followed behind him as the other guys eyed her over. Their eyes filled with surprise and delight but they weren't looking at her like the guys at school did. Their eyes were shielded as if they knew they shouldn't look at her in that way.

"First floor", the guy called back and Nate nodded in acknowledgment before leading Jenny into a huge old storage room that was transferred into a sort of living room. A few couches and chairs were set up all over the room and a large coffee table littered with empty beer bottles and a few pieces of paper and empty packs of cigarettes. They also had placed a snooker table and a tabletop soccer into the room. On one side was built a huge bar counter.

_Charming_, Jenny thought to herself.

"Nate, about time you show up. Lionel's upstairs." Jenny heard a familiar voice call from the living room and turned to see Chuck sprawled on one of the couches watching the latest news on TV, which was hanging at the wall.

"You remember, Chuck. He'll take care of you. I'll be right back", was all Nate said before walking over to the spiral stairs leading up and taking them three at a time, leaving Jenny standing in the middle of the room awkwardly and painfully out of place.

"Ah, sweetheart. I knew, I'd see you again", Jenny heard Chuck say to her and turned to see him smiling brightly at her, his trench coat sleeves rolled up as he had one arm stretched over the back of the couch he was sitting on. "Come sit", he said, more of an order than an offer and feeling all the other guy's eyes on her, she quickly moved to the couch and sat on the other end, as far from Chuck as she could.

She turned and saw him smiling at her. "I do have to apologize, you know. Something I don't do very often. But I believe I was wrong. Nate told me you aren't exactly the rich bitch I thought you are", glee danced in his eyes.

Jenny was surprised Nate had actually bothered to mention anything to him. Heck, she was surprised that they talked about her at all.

"Umm yeah…", she started hesitantly, not really knowing what else to say. Chuck just laughed and she looked away, gazing at her surroundings and taking it in. Her heart stopped beating as her eyes landed on the table in front of them. A gun was lying there amongst the bottles and junk.

She couldn't breathe.

"What? It's just a gun, sweetie. A lot of people wear those", Chuck told her, obviously noticing her sudden stiff form and wide eyes.

Jenny looked at him, about to say 'just a gun? Are you nuts?' when another guy walked into the room, slamming the door behind him and cursing at whoever was in the room he had just left.

He gazed at Chuck and tilted his head in acknowledgment before his eyes fell on Jenny, a smirk slowly sliding onto his face.

"Well, well, well. And who do we have here?", he asked smugly and Jenny started to feel sick when he came towards her.

"Don't even think about it Cooper, she's Nate's girl", Chuck said in a low even tone.

The guy stopped in his tracks and looked at her in astonishment. "Nate's girl?", he repeated flat and slumped in an armchair next to the couch, "who would have known that we see that day coming." He moved his gaze to the TV and totally ignored Jenny.

"I'm not Nate's girl", Jenny heard herself saying before she was even able to think about it, and seeing Chuck's bemused face she immediately regretted that she had opened her mouth at all.

"Oh, you're not? Does he know that too?", he asked sarcastically with a smirk plastered on his face.

"I'm not anyone's", Jenny replied, not liking the fact that Chuck had labeled her once more without even knowing her.

"Okay, sweetie. Believe whatever you like in that pretty little head of yours, if it helps you to deal with the reality", Chuck stated to her. "Those silly cops need to sod off, they'll never find the body. Even if they would send their smartest guys to search for it", he proclaimed as he turned back to the TV and Jenny's eyes widened in horror, now knowing why he was watching the news.

She glanced back at the gun and wondered if that weapon had caused the death of the body, and if Chuck had buried it somewhere. Was she sitting next to a killer? She held on to the couch tighter, fear running through her veins rapidly. What was she supposed to do? She stood up, planning on making a quick exit but stopped when Nate came down the stairs again.

"Okay, we can leave", he motioned to her, nodding at Chuck and then walked through the first room towards the exit, Jenny following him as quickly as she could. Not even bothering to say goodbye to Chuck, she just wanted to get out of there.

"Where are we going now?", Jenny asked as soon as they stepped outside, suddenly massively worried.

Nate turned to her and smiled kindly. "It's a surprise."

"Well, I don't know if I want another surprise", she told him.

Nate turned to her in a sudden movement. "What? Do you still think I'm going to take you somewhere secluded to rape and kill you?", he asked sarcastically but his eyes were now cold and serious, and a little bit hurt.

"I don't know!", Jenny huffed truthfully, throwing her arms up in despair. In her heart something told her he would never hurt her, at least that's what she hoped for. Could her heart fully trust him? "I don't know you at all", she added as an afterthought, staring him straight in the eyes.

"Then what the fuck was the twenty questions last Friday?", he stared at her intently.

Jenny rolled her eyes, "I know your name, how old you are and that at some certain point in your life you went to St. Jude's…", she responded, looking at him doubtfully before she pointed to the building behind her, "…and in there I see guys playing poker whatever, a gun on a table, and Chuck talking about how the cops will never find the body, sounding like he knows way to well where the body can be found", she replied, her voice rising with each word she was saying.

Nate looked up at the sky and then back down at her with a look of impatience and disbelief on his face as he walked up close to her and Jenny could feel herself stiffen.

He put his hands on her shoulders before running them down her arms and intertwining their fingers, he brought his face close to hers. "Did I ever give you any reason not to trust me?", he asked silently. Jenny shook her head no and looked ashamed down. "Okay then", he whispered in her ear, sending an instant chill through her body before he started to pull her toward his bike.

"Now as we clarified this, how about we go to the planned destination? As your parents believe you're riding the bus home, I guess there is not much time left before you have to be at home, right? ", he smirked.

"Yeah, I guess", she hated that he could put her at ease so easily.

Nate chuckled. "What time are you usually back home when you take the bus?", he questioned, running a hand through his messed hair as he walked over to his bike.

"Round about five, depends on the traffic", Jenny answered, walking to him. He glanced down at his watch and then looked back up at her, handing her the helmet.

"Good, then we got a little over an hour left", he smiled at her. She melted just by the sight of this. Most of the times he kept smirking at her, he rarely smiled. But when he did all of this danger that oozes of him disappeared in an instant. She started to love the way he smiled at her. It could make her forget the world completely.

"Well, I don't like to disappoint you, but we need at least thirty minutes to get to Brooklyn", she told him, getting settled on the back of his bike after he did.

Nate chuckled again, "Only about ten minutes tops. You can take the time if you like."

Jenny rolled her eyes over his response. "Of course, how could I forget that the speed limit wasn't made for you", she muttered cynically when he pulled her arms tighter around his torso before kicking off and heading down the road towards Brooklyn.

Jenny felt herself relax against him as she rested her head on his hard back while they were driving through the streets. For the first time ever she felt secure with someone else than her dad. Holding on to him felt natural, as if it was meant to be. She felt safe even though she barely knew him. Not knowing where they were going, she didn't mind, didn't care. She felt save and free, and that was all that mattered in this moment. She closed her eyes to enjoy this feeling and pressed herself even closer to him, if it was anymore possible.

She opened her eyes when she felt the bike slow down and come to a complete stop. She realized they were at a tiny secluded pier close to Hunters Point South Park. She had gone to this park quite a few times, but never had she seen this pier.

She stared around in awe at the view in front of her, shocked that this was the place that he wanted to bring her to. She stepped off the bike before him and took her helmet off, fixing her hair as she walked a few feet away, looking out over the water to the skyline of Manhattan.

"This is where you wanted to bring me?", she asked in amazement as she turned to look at him. He had scooted back to where she had been sitting and was sitting there comfortably, his eyes scanning the water just like she had done before.

"Yeah", Nate ran a hand through his hair. "I started coming here when I was about your age. It's a nice place to clear your head and think, get out of the hassle of the city", he said evenly but a tiny flash of anger rushed through his eyes as he seemed to remember something from the past, but Jenny didn't dare to ask what he was thinking about.

"How did you find this pier?", she asked, looking around at the secluded area they were in. "I've been in this park so many times. I never saw this before. Heck, I didn't know at all that you can get here."

Nate pointed to the west where the park began and she followed his finger to see a small area surrounded by a fence. A couple of cars and bikes stood within it.

"My car got impounded once while I was here in Brooklyn for a bit longer and a couple of friends and me came and broke it out. I needed it and didn't have the money to pay, so…" He shrugged as Jenny's mouth dropped and she blinked before shaking her head, realizing that she really wasn't that surprised about his confession.

She preferred to look over the water again. "It's beautiful here. I love the skyline of Manhattan. Even though the city is so hectic and crazy, it still has something magical", she whispered into the air.

A few minutes of silence caused her to turn around and look back at Nate, wondering if he was still there. She was met with his intense stare on her, his face unreadable and she became nervous in an instant, bringing her hands to the end of her shirt and twisting it.

"Come here", he told her, his voice low and husky and Jenny blinked in surprise before slowly walking over to him. When she was about a foot away from him, he sighed and grabbed her hand impatiently, pulling her onto his lap until she was sitting sideways on the front of the bike, facing him.

She opened her mouth to say something but he brought his lips to hers, cutting off anything she wanted to say and instantly erasing all of her thoughts. He slowly moved his lips with hers and she felt his hand travel down to her leg closest to him and grip her knee. In one quick movement he lifted her leg and placed it on the other side of him, causing her to gasp and reach down toward her skirt as her legs were now open and laying on top of his, draping over the side of the bike as her body was pressed to his, straddling him.

He grabbed her hands before she could fix her skirt and intertwined his fingers quickly with hers, moving them to her hips and resting them there.

"It's just us here, Cinderella", he whispered huskily, before letting go of her hands and moving one hand to the back of her neck, pulling her in for another heated kiss instantly making her breathless. His tongue traced her lips and then traced the line that separated them until she opened her lips and met his tongue with hers, raising her hands and running them through his hair, deepening the kiss and taking as much control as he did.

She heard him groan and pull her closer as she took her turn playing with him. She slowly sucked on his tongue, surprising him. His other hand found its way to her thigh and slowly started skimming up, leaving a burning sensation along her skin as he did so. He gripped her thigh tightly and gave it a squeeze while biting her lip, making her moan into his mouth.

She started to feel things that she had never felt before and she became full aware that she wanted him; she wanted anything that he could offer her. The feelings he was evoking within her were driving her crazy. She never knew that feelings like this existed and she suddenly couldn't get enough of feeling like this. He made her feel more alive than she had ever felt in her life.

As his hand moved up more she gasped and pulled away for a minute and looked into his eyes. She was about to put her hand on his and stop him but he was still slowly skimming his way higher, painfully slow and gentle, and she felt herself melting under his touch and getting lost in his eyes as he stared directly back into hers. How could simple movements like these could make her feel so fired up? The color of his eyes had considerably darkened and she just stared back at him, mouth agape as she desperately tried to catch her breath.

He leaned forward and kissed her quickly on the lips before moving down her neck hungrily. She closed her eyes intuitively and let herself get lost in the pleasure he was evoking in her. She heard herself moan lightly but didn't care. She felt his tongue tracing circles on her collarbone before sucking on it softly. He was careful and tenderly in the way he kissed her this time, as he was cherishing every moment.

She realized that he had different ways to kiss her. One when he hungrily kissed her, full of passion and lust as he couldn't survive any further minute without contact between them and like now, when he acted slow, soft and tender, as if she was something very delicate and could break at any given second.

She was slowly becoming more and more addicted to his kisses. If she could, she would kiss him forever and never stop.

As his lips moved up to her ear, she dropped her head on his shoulder, quietly whispering his name as her lips met with his neck. Jenny slowly started kissing the skin and sporadically sucking until she was back face to face with him and her eyes were locked with his. She never thought that she could have such an effect on anyone - ever, but she breathed in sharply when she felt exactly what kind of effect she was having on him, pressing hard into her thigh.

His eyes were intense and he knew she could tell. They stayed locked with hers with an intensity that made her breathing quicken even more. They just kept staring at one another for a while, as if trying to see deep into each other's souls, reveal all the deepest emotions.

"You have no fucking idea what you do to me, Cinderella", he whispered, his eyes still locked with hers and it seemed like it took all his willpower to admit that. He was letting his guard down, if only for a brief moment, and he was massively scared on doing so.

His hands on her back brought her closer and he kissed her again, the ferocity back and she happily returned the kiss, raking her hands through his hair as his hands snaked under her shirt sliding across her stomach and leaving goose bumps in their path.

When he pulled back she heard herself involuntarily whine at the lack of contact between them and felt him vibrate with laughter underneath her.

"We got to get you home", he told her and in one quick movement he slid his hands underneath her and gripped her upper thighs, easily lifting her off the bike and setting her slowly on the ground. She had to control herself not to fall, as her legs felt like they were about to give in at any second. He moved into the front of his bike and held a hand out to her as she climbed in the back, her lips swollen and her breathing still rapid from their previous action.

Jenny put her helmet on and he started his bike to pull onto the main street. The ride to Williamsburg was short and fast, and Jenny found herself wishing it would last just a little longer. She didn't feel like saying goodbye anytime soon.

Nate pulled just around the corner as he did the week before and got off the bike. He walked to the back to unhook her bag as she got off too and took off the helmet.

He held her bag in one hand as she stood awkwardly on the sidewalk, tucking her hair behind her ears nervously and fixing her clothes self-consciously.

He walked up to her and she reached her hand out for her bag, but he only took it in his and interlaced their fingers, holding her hand up with his and looking at it before meeting her eyes. He pulled her forward and quickly placed his lips to hers, wrapping the arm that held her bag around her back and pulling her close.

He broke apart about a minute later and moved his lips slowly to her ear.

"Don't worry, Cinderella. We'll see each other soon again. I promise", he whispered, kissing her neck just below her ear quickly before pulling back and handing her the bag. She took it with shaking hands and watched as he ran a hand through his hair, walking back to his bike and getting on.

"I'll see you tomorrow", he said before driving off and just like Friday before, she watched him disappear before turning to walk the few meters to her home.

She couldn't help the smile that had formed on her face neither the blush that was still existent from his last kiss while strolled towards the loft, feeling like she was walking on air.

She heard someone clear their throat behind her and jumped, spinning around until she was met with the pair of brown eyes of her best friend.

"See… I was just walking over to your place and enjoying my cigarette, and…", Eric started but trailed off, shaking his head in disbelief over the scene he had just witnessed. "Would you please enlighten me what the hell that was?", he asked, half a smirk on his lips but full seriousness in his eyes.

Jenny opened her mouth to explain everything but nothing came out.

This was a huge nightmare.

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><p><strong>Oops, there is some explaining in order. How will she get out of that?<strong>


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I own nothing from GG or Twelve**

**This time a little faster, but the next chapter will take a bit as I'll be doing some travelling within the next weeks (private and job wise). So I doubt that I'll find the time to sit down and write - sorry in advance.**

**I was asked how many chapters this story will have - I don't know yet. But no worries it won't finish anytime soon. I'd like to explain why Nate is living this way and how he got there. This sure takes a bit as I don't want to put it all in one chapter, at least that is my current plan.**

**I got some inspiration for this chapter by one of my fave songs - Chemical Infatuation by Like a Storm. You may like to listen to it after. It's great and I also don't own that one. Although I could ask the guys on Friday if they would like to be owned - they are my private reason for traveling as they will tour Germany for the first time now **

**Anyhow, enjoy the chapter and review. Love to hear your thoughts about it**

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><p>Jenny stared at Eric with wide eyes, her breathing suddenly ceased as she stood there, motionless. For the first time in her life, she felt trapped. And for some unknown reason, she felt guilty.<p>

She opened her mouth again to say something, anything, but nothing came out.

"Well, Jen… I believe this is the first time you've actually nothing to say to me. See, sometimes when you won't stop talking about school or fashion, I wish for moments like these", Eric chuckled in a weird way, not at all funnily. "But honestly now is not exactly the right time to become mute. Care to explain what that was." He shook his head as he threw his cigarette down on the street and was about to grab another, but thought better of it.

Jenny watched him. Eric acted strange, he wasn't his usual self. This much she could tell. He was nervous, but at the same time very serious. And she knew that he wouldn't let her go by waving it off as it was nothing. He looked at her questionable.

"That was…umm… my ride home?", Jenny offered with as much confidence she could muster in this situation. But she could tell herself that it came more as a question out rather than a statement.

Eric nodded in understanding, looking her straight in the eye and without saying another word he walked over to the nearby park and sat down on a bench. Jenny sighed deeply, knowing it wouldn't be over she followed him and joined him on the bench, not capable of looking at him.

"Where do you want me to start?", she asked silently, now even more guiltily.

"Geez, I don't know ... maybe at the beginning? How did you even get to know him? For some reason I doubt that he is a school friend of yours", Eric replied sarcastically.

"Well, umm, I kinda ran in to him, literally. We talked shortly and then I met him a couple of days later at that masquerade ball we had at school", she started, trying to find the right words to make it sound as innocent as possible.

Jenny took a deep breath and told him every detail she could remember from when she first ran into Nate, which wasn't hard as she remembered them all too clearly. The masquerade ball, and him showing up daily at school to pick her up with her denying his wish, and finally really picking her up from school and bringing her home. She knew it wouldn't make sense to hold something back as … Eric would know. He always did, somehow he could read her like an open book. At certain times he knew her way better than her own father did, and that was quite creepy. But after all, he was her best friend, and best friends knew each other inside out, right?

She made sure not to leave out anything about her encounters with Nate. She told him about the ball and how the guys at school had reacted the days after that, the warehouse he took her to and the pier. Eric had listened silently to her confessions, at some points he had to hold his anger down by pressing his hands into fists, especially when she told him about the guys at school. He never liked those jerks that only saw girls as conquests, now after hearing this he sure never would.

He had started to smoke again during her explanation. And he was now running out of cigarettes pretty fast considering that he got a new pack just that morning. This was definitely not the way he used to act around her.

When she had finally finished her story, he stood up, pacing back and forth in front of the bench. Every now and then sighing and taking in a deep breath.

"So…", he started, taking a deep breath again and throwing his half-smoked cigarette to the ground. Jenny interlaced her fingers and looked down on the ground so she wouldn't have to face him, having no idea what he was about to do or say. She couldn't decipher what he was thinking about everything she just told him.

"Nathaniel Archibald", he said with a throaty chuckle, causing her to look at him surprised. Out of all the things she expected to hear from him… she hadn't expected that.

Eric looked at her with a disbelieving smirk. "What the hell were you thinking? I mean, were you thinking at all?"

"I…", Jenny started, but couldn't find the words that could explain her thinking or doing. She still didn't know what she was thinking herself. She still couldn't explain herself why she did what she did. All she knew was that somehow it had felt right to do it.

"Jenny, I'm the last person to tell you what to do, you know that. But trust me when I say you don't want to get caught up with his shit. Do you understand?", Eric looked like he wanted to say so much more and was struggling to keep it in.

"Eric…", Jenny started to protest but saw Eric's serious eyes and blinked in surprise. "You know him? How?"

"You're kidding, or? Jenny, New York may be a huge city with a lot of people living in it, but sometimes New York is just a tiny island where everyone knows everyone. Yes, I know him, as well as Chuck. We did meet before. And I can't believe that you got on the back of some guy's bike that you barely even know!", his voice rose with every word of the last sentence.

"I do know him!", she argued weakly, "maybe not as long and good as I know you, but nevertheless. And if I wouldn't trust him, than I wouldn't have gone with him. You know me, Eric. I wouldn't do something so stupid."

Eric laughed and looked at her with disbelief. "You can't be serious, Jenny. You got on his bike, not once but twice even though you know that he is some sort of a gang member and obviously dangerous. How is that not stupid?"

"Well, it's my decision", she stated, slightly infuriated with him for calling her out and not trusting her judgment.

Eric walked over to her and stopped right in front of her, gazing down on her. "Are you seriously going to argue with me about whether this was wrong or not?"

"No", Jenny sighed. "But I know what I'm doing here. I'm seventeen, Eric. I'll be eighteen in a couple of weeks and I can make my own decisions. I'm not a little child anymore. It's sweet that you still want to take care of me like a brother, but it's not necessary anymore. I can take care of myself. I know that all this with Nate sounds crazy but I just… I don't know what this is", she replied irritated.

"God, if your father hears all this it could be that for once we have the same opinion on something."

Jenny's eyes widened in pure horror. "You're not going to tell him?"

Eric shook his head. "No, of course not. What kind of friend would I be? But you will", he pointed at her and pulled out another cigarette.

Jenny just looked at him. Trying to find out what exactly he was telling her. Did he just tell her to confess to her father?

"You have to tell him. It's too huge to keep it a secret. I mean, it didn't look like you were just hanging out…", he added and she knew deep within her that he was right. Eventually she would tell him. She told her father pretty much everything. But she never had to tell him something like this. Lucas had been save, father approved even. In fact, Rufus had been sadder about their break up than Jenny at that time.

But now, she didn't want to know what Rufus would say if he found out about Nate and what they did. She knew that he wouldn't let her do anything ever again - no riding the bus, no more parties, no more life outside school or home. He was always scared something could happen to Jenny and this… this was surely a situation he didn't want his only daughter to get in to. He would immediately jump to conclusions and focus on the bad sides of the story, which happened to have quite a lot.

She wasn't ready to tell him just yet. Not before she knew why Nate was spending time with her, or why he even liked her. If he did, which she still doubted although he seemed to react massively to her. But maybe it was just a game to him. She wanted to make sure that when she told Rufus there would be something worth telling him. And at this point… there wasn't, at least nothing she could see.

"I will, at some certain point", she murmured. Just not knowing when exactly.

Eric threw his newest dissolved cigarette to the ground and turned to face her, shaking his head.

"I don't like this", he stated bluntly. "I really don't like this."

"So he may not be like Lucas, but we're not doing something illegal here. We had coffee and something to eat. He drove me home and that's it", Jenny explained, trying her best to convince him that she wasn't in danger.

Nate hadn't done anything to harm her. He might be dangerous, but so far it was only in his eyes when other people were around. He never acted dangerous around her, at least not as people assumed he would. There was definitely another side to him that no one knew, and she was massively confused why he would let her see that side of him. Why her?

"Look, there are not a lot of people I deeply care about. In fact, there are only three... you, your dad and… at certain times my dad. Jen, you like him…obviously. And it's ok, but you see only your side to the story. Try to see mine, or your dad's. We care about you and we don't want you to get hurt. But it could happen with you seeing him. Jen, he is older, more experienced… I'm not saying that he doesn't like you or that he is only after you for one thing, but I'm neither saying he is not. Could you try to see this through my eyes for a little bit?", he begged her with a soothing voice.

Jenny looked down at her bag. "Eric, if I felt there was something wrong, or if I was in danger in some way, you know that I wouldn't have done any of this", she said, trying to make him understand.

Eric chuckled. "It's not him that I'm scared about. It's the people around him, Jenny. I know that he is a good guy, but not everyone around him is. I've told you only a few things about my life that is nothing compared to what I've seen or what is going on in Nate's life. Not everyone grew up as protected as you did", Eric tried to make her see that she didn't know what she might get herself into.

"I know that you believe this is foolish but… can't you trust me on this?", she questioned, "just please let me do this. All the time I'm doing everything that is save or expected of me. I'm always this… good girl. Maybe just once I need to do something…crazy, insane, unexpected. I always did what everyone told me to do or what was expected of me, just this once I would like to try something new, unknown. And it seems as Nate is just that."

Eric eyed her for quite some time until an understanding crossed his face. "I just don't want you to get hurt", he finally said, looking straight into her eyes.

"I'm not going to. I won't let him", she assured him determined and he just smiled at her while shaking his head in wonder.

"If someone else had seen earlier what I did…", he started, vibrating from laughter and sending her a knowing look. "And your dad?", he asked serious again.

Jenny bit her lip, as always when she was nervous or thinking. "I'll tell him as soon as I know what this is… if it is… something… or whatever", she sighed deeply, still not sure in what she had gotten herself into. What were they doing?

Eric nodded and then looked her dead in the eyes. "But I swear to god Jen, if anything happens…", he pointed at her warningly.

"You'll be the first to know and I'll allow you to do whatever you want", she expressed, knowing it was the truth. Eric has always been her first address since they met and became friends. "But nothing will happen."

Eric gave her an honest and typical Eric smile. "I never would have thought it though", he answered, not able to contain his laughter.

"What?"

"It's just… the picture of you in that outfit on the back of his bike. Could you ask him to take a picture? I'd love to see that", he laughed even more.

"Eric…", her eyes narrowed in warning.

"Coffee or hot chocolate?", he asked, trying hard to hold in his laughter.

Jenny tried to keep a straight face but smiled at him, nodding.

"Come on then you dirty little thing. Let's get us some good liquid." He threw his arm around her and they started walking towards their favorite diner.

"Thank you", Jenny whispered.

Eric just waved it off. "I still can't picture you on that…", but he couldn't finish his thought as Jenny pushed him into the next bush, taking off before he could catch her.

* * *

><p>Jenny was late for school on the next day as Rufus had accidently unplugged her alarm clock. So instead of attending to the first period she arrived to the beginning of the fourth. She thought about skipping the entire day, but Rufus insisted that she would go and wrote her an apology for the headmaster.<p>

Jenny wasn't pleased. At some point she was happy though. Going to school meant that Nate would pick her up. But it also meant to face her class mates and that was something she was dreading. She could definitely live without the stares and whispers around her.

Not to think about the zillion questions Blair, Serena and Penelope would fire on her the second they saw her. She was still exhausted from Eric's enquiry yesterday, and she didn't feel like telling them everything that had happened. Blair would most definitely yell at her if she got to know about the warehouse they went to, and Serena and Penelope would not stop questioning her about the pier.

And what answers should she give them? She didn't even know herself why he did what he did. She had no clue what was going on in his head. And why he wasted his time with someone like her.

But that would stop today. She had promised herself on the way into town and to school that she would ask him about his motives. And she wouldn't stop until she had her answers – and the most important one was why her. She had lied to her father about her whereabouts and Eric was keeping a secret for her while she drove around New York with someone she barely knew. This wasn't right.

She still didn't believe it. She couldn't wrap her mind about it to process it. Although she knew it had happened it felt so unreal, almost like it was a dream or a movie she had watched on TV. Sure this couldn't be her life.

After getting into class late the stares she received were more than she had thought, but gladly no one decided to walk up to her and ask her about it. She had managed to avoid the girls the entire day. Even when Blair nearly managed to corner her, she had accomplished to escape into the music room where her next class was. Preparing for choir wasn't bad at all.

But all alone in the music room she had time to think and let her mind drift off, realizing that it was crazy to hide out from her friends. She never kept anything from her father, except the one time when she didn't tell him tight away about her first kiss with Lucas. She was always close to him, especially after her mom left, but that was something she couldn't talk about with him. At least not at first.

But now this, this was not even in the slightest in the same league as that kiss then. She had her first real French kiss, she wasn't sure what to call it what Lucas used to do. A full blown make out session on a motorcycle. Not to think she had seen a gun just inches away from her, sure her father would love that fact. Possibly heard something that the cops would love to know, and if that wouldn't get him upset she had raced through New York on the back of a motorcycle. All that while her father thought that she was riding the bus back to Williamsburg.

She would get her answers. And if he refuses to give them to her, well, she would stop seeing him. Although she had a gut feeling that he wouldn't accept it like that. He seemed like that kind of person that doesn't get turned down often, or at all. Well, this would be the first. She would get her answers, she would stand her ground.

"Hey", someone greeted from behind her as she walked towards the school exit at the end of the day. At first she wanted to just walk on, but as she wasn't sure if they meant her she turned around, just in case only to be met with a pair of dark brown eyes. Darren Mitchell, king of St. Jude's. An odd discomfort rushed over her and she ended up gripping her book bag just a little tighter as usual.

Most of the girls in school thought he was sexy and simply to die for, but those who had brain and knew how to use it saw him for what he really was – a player and boaster.

"Umm, yes?", she asked, not liking the way he looked at her. He was smirking at her. But not like the one she was used to from Nate, a dangerous and amused smirk that showed that he had more self-confidence than anyone. This smirk was conniving and smug.

"You're Jenny, right? Jenny Humphrey?", he asked pretending confusion. He knew exactly who she was.

"Yes", was all she answered him as she continued walking towards the exit door.

"I'm Darren", he replied, falling into step beside her and holding out his hand to her. Jenny gazed him over, warily. She couldn't believe that he was talking to her; she sure knew the reason why. She had heard it more than once during the past two days.

"Yeah, I heard so", she answered swiftly without making direct eye contact or taking his hand. The way he was still looking at her was making her feel… unease, but mostly dirty. Nate never looked like that at her. His gaze was admiring, not degrading.

"Well…", he continued and she could tell by his voice that he obviously wasn't ignored often. Jenny knew how the girls were normally trying to catch his attention by throwing themselves at him, with her trying to get away from him as fast as possible – it must be a premiere for him. "…there is a party this weekend, at my house. And I was wondering when I can expect you."

Jenny stopped dead in her tracks and stared incredulous at him.

"Sorry, but are you out of your mind, or so? What on earth makes you believe I'm coming?", she asked disbelievingly. "We've never talked to each other before. We don't even have the same friends circle."

"Well…", he took a step closer to her, "my parties are always the best of the year and nobody turns down the invitation, equal you'll be there. So, I was thinking that you could be my date tonight." The self-importance oozing from each of his words causing Jenny to nearly throw up.

Jenny stopped again and turned to glare at him. "Well…", she drew the word out, mimicking his previous words. "It seems that I'm the first to turn you down then."

A hand on her arm stopped her from turning towards the doors again and she found herself facing him as he pulled her closer to him.

"Come on…", he scoffed, trying to hide his anger and embarrassment over her rejection. "…don't pretend like you're some innocent little girl, Humphrey, because everyone knows that you're not. It's obvious that there is a naughty girl underneath." His eyes traveled now openly down her body as she jerked back from him by pulling her arm out of his grip.

"You don't know anything about me." Now she had reached the level of fear. If she had thought that the two times she had been with Nate she was scared, she was totally mistaken. With him by her side she felt save, even protected, but this guy now… he scared the crap out of her.

"Listen…", his voice started to reason with her in frustration when he stepped closer to her again, but he never got the slightest chance to finish his sentence. Before Jenny could comprehend what was happening in front of her, Darren was slammed against the next wall. An arm pressed against his upper body and pinned him against it.

Jenny gulped and tore her eyes from the shocked expression on Darren's face and followed the arm to the man standing in front of him, a deadly look in his darkened blue eyes. The murderous look in them terrified her but over all she was relieved that he was there. Keeping her safe from that creep.

"You know what fucking gets on my nerves? Rich little dicks like you who believe they own the world and that everyone has to fall at their fucking feet", Nate spat at Darren and Jenny couldn't help herself than to hold her book bag even tighter. She looked around but no one else except for them was there, everyone had left school already. For how long had she talked to him?

She gazed back at the scene in front of her where Darren was still pinned against the wall by Nate, pure shock and fear written over his face. Nothing had remained from the cocky boy just ten minutes ago.

"Are you all right?", Nate asked, his eyes flashing towards Jenny and he waited for her response.

She wanted to answer him that she was doing okay, just a little shaky, but her voice betrayed her, not giving out a single sound. So she just nodded her head instead, signaling that she was okay, somehow.

Nate observed her closely before turning back to the shocked boy right in front of him.

"You will never touch her again. You will never talk to her again; you won't even _look _at her…", Nate threatened him, his voice was hard and menacing. He continued talking, but he had lowered his voice and was speaking right in Darren's left ear, so Jenny couldn't hear him anymore. Nate took one step back and pushed Darren once more hard into the wall, causing him to stumble to the floor. His face pale and filled with enormous fear.

Nate tore his eyes away from him with a look of disgust and held his hand out to Jenny.

She was frozen to the spot for a second before she hesitantly grabbed his hand and he interlaced their fingers, walking towards the door. She gazed back once more to see Darren still on the floor, cowering like a little boy that had just met the devil in person.

When they got outside the school yard was practically empty. No audience of them leaving together again today, Jenny felt relieved. As they walked over to his car, the silence was almost deafening and a strange tension fell between the two.

"Thanks", Jenny hesitantly said as they approached his car.

Nate turned to look at her, his eyes roaming all over her face as if he was searching for a specific sign. "For what?", he asked, his voice flat and emotionless.

Jenny looked back at the building they just emerged out. "For… for what you did in there. For helping me." She couldn't quite express herself, as she was still trying to process what had just happened. And how she got into it.

He shrugged, holding out his hand to put her bag into the trunk.

"Don't thank me, I didn't do anything", was all he said as she handed it over.

She looked at his car and remembered what she had told Eric the day before. She wouldn't go with him if she thought she was in danger. But she wasn't, was she? She truly was shocked when he showed up out of the blue and attacked Darren. Can you even call it attack? He protected her, didn't he? She sure wasn't in danger with him. In fact she never felt so safe like now. That wasn't the case a couple of minutes ago when she was alone with Darren.

"Where are we going?", she managed to ask, fiddling with her shirt out of nervousness.

He simply shrugged, "You want to get something to eat?", he asked her, surprising her. Normally he would just tell her to come and decide himself where to or he wouldn't answer at all. This time he actually did ask.

"Sounds good. I could need something after that", she nodded slowly.

She opened the door after catching his eyes briefly and climbed into the passenger's seat. They were off down the road a few moments later, neither had said another word. He drove as fast as it was possible within the New York traffic yam, mainly taking the side roads. After a couple of minutes they came to a stop outside a large building with a small diner at the base of it.

She got out of the car after he did and tried to fix her wrinkled clothes a little. She gazed up when she noticed Nate hadn't moved and caught his eyes. They were clearly dancing with amusement as a smile fell across his face.

"Come on, Cinderella," he said as his smile turned to a half smirk and he held his hand out. She blushed; the way he was looking her over still made her nervous and insecure. Although she had seen that look more than once by now, she still didn't get used to it, and sure she never would. All she could do was return his smile and fell giddy inside. Just a simple look from him could drive her crazy.

She finally took his hand and he pulled her close to him so their bodies touched as they walked into the diner.

The door chimed, catching the attention of some customers within and Jenny watched in fascination at their different reactions to seeing them walk in together, or rather seeing him walking in with her in her school outfit since none of them knew who she was. She didn't know what to think about their reactions. A few pick up their belongings and immediately left the diner, not even finishing their food. Others just stared at them unbelieving while the most looked away again.

She followed him to the counter, knowing that they wouldn't stay when he didn't sit down but instead studied the menu.

A few people which were leaving sent her an unbelieving look, as they pitied her or couldn't believe that she was with him. Jenny looked up to see if Nate had noticed their action as well and was met with his eyes staring straight at her. The amusement that had filled them just a few moments before was gone; instead they were serious and guarded again, somehow cold and empty. How was it possible that within a blink of an eye the expression could change so drastically? There was no sign of the softness they sometimes held when he gazed at her, just knowing.

His eyes flickered shortly towards the door before landing on her again, a small smirk appeared on his lips. "Still surprised?", he asked, and she knew he was talking about other people's reactions to him.

She didn't reply to him, just stared down on the ground. How could he be not affected by their reactions? She had the feeling that he didn't care about it. It didn't stop her from wondering why it didn't affect him that people actually feared him. Why people didn't want to be in the same room like him… but mostly that all people seem to know him. That sure wasn't something good.

"Is it for here or to go?", a woman asked, standing on the opposite side of the counter and holding a pad of paper in her hand, her grip a little tighter than what was normal.

"Seeing as though we're not sitting, what do you think?"

The woman before them swallowed and Jenny saw her already forced smile waver. "What can I get you then?"

Nate turned to Jenny, handing her a menu card. "They got the same crap as any other place", he said, looking back at the waitress and ordering a burger. Jenny decided to just order the same.

While they were waiting for their order, they stood together in silence, making Jenny realize that the entire diner was way more silent as it probably usually was. She gazed around and saw only a few people whisper hushed words to each other. The usual conversations in a diner had died down.

She was torn apart from her thoughts when she felt a movement on her hand. She gazed down and saw that Nate hadn't let go of her hand, their hands were still interlaced and Nate had started to trace small circles on her palm. Letting his fingers run over her wrist and her hand.

He was deeply in thought that she wondered if he even realized how intimate this movement was. It didn't seem like something he would normally do, not from everything Serena and Co had told her. In fact, it seemed that he never had a girlfriend before… although was she that? His girlfriend?

She knew that if she told Serena about this, she would get a heart attack for sure. But in this moment she couldn't help the giddy feeling that arose in her as his fingers grazed hers. He was so gentle with everything about her and it made her feel like she was floating on air.

She gazed back up to his eyes and the quick movement caused him to look at her. Something flickered in his eyes for a tiny moment as he kept them trained on hers and she felt breathless. She was in deep trouble; she was massively falling for him.

"Here's your order", a voice spoke up behind them and interrupted their silent moment; Nate turned and grabbed the bag from the waitress.

Before Nate could say something, Jenny spoke up. Knowing from his previous conversation with her that he probably wouldn't say anything nice or friendly to her.

"Thank you", she said, smiling at the nervous waitress as she eyed Nate carefully.

He looked at her and she kept looking straight back at him, not backing down which turned out to be way harder than she thought as his piercing blue eyes literally made her freeze. He then smirked and started to head towards the exit.

"Where are we eating?", Jenny asked as she got herself back into the car, feeling like it was the most normal thing in the world to do and not knowing if that was a good thing or not.

"We'll see", he stated, shrugging as he put the bags on the back seat and settled down in the front. They pulled out of the parking space and headed out of the main city. The memories of the day before rushed back to her and she blushed, happy he couldn't see her while she faced the window of the passenger's side. Even if she would try, she couldn't get the images out of her head. They were running on repeat, like a broken vinyl record. The taste of his lips on hers, or the burning sensation of his touch on her skin.

They pulled into a short road which led to the pier and Nate parked the car just as he had the day before with his bike and got out, walking around to face her at her side. He opened her door and as she stepped out of the car she felt him take her wrist before an arm snaked around her waist, pulling her against him.

She looked up to be met with his sparkling blue eyes, once again with the softness in them that he rarely showed when they were surrounded by others. It seemed as if he saved it just for her. "Hey Cinderella", he whispered as his lips hovered over hers, his breath tickling her chin.

"Hi", she heard herself reply in a whisper, surprised she was even capable of responding to him. She immediately pressed her lips to his, giving into the urge to kiss him that had crept up within her ever since he had shown up earlier that day. She had carved this contact since. She could feel him smile against her lips and she smiled herself as the kiss remained innocent, not pushing for anything further.

He pulled back after a minute and looked into her blue eyes. He smiled slightly before sighing and turning around, rubbing a hand through his hair before he turned back to her and glared at her in a way he had never done before, playful. She found herself smiling over his reaction. For once he looked like he wasn't in control over the given situation.

"Come on, let's eat", he said, grabbing the bag from the backseat and walking to the edge of the pier to sit down, letting his legs dangle over it. Jenny followed suit and sat next to him, fixing her skirt as best as she could to sit comfortable.

"You know, if that thing is such a problem all the time you could just take it off", she heard him tease her from the side and her mouth dropped open as she snapped her gaze in his direction, only to find him laughing to himself as he took the food and bottled drinks they had gotten earlier out of the bag and handed her some. She felt her cheeks burn in embarrassment at the thought.

A few minutes of silence passed over them as they ate and looked out over the water. It was such a peaceful place, considering that this part still belonged to the buzzing city of New York, the silence was welcoming. But as much as Jenny enjoyed this moment of silence, she couldn't let this day just pass by as the others before. For some reason he always managed to wipe her mind blank, but as soon as she was home all the questions returned, even louder than before. She needed to know why she kept them a secret and what this was to him.

Nevertheless she needed answers. Why was she so drawn to him? Why did she crave his touch more than anything else in her life? Why would she do things she normally would never do? Why did it seem to her that she was addicted to him?

Just by looking at him she knew that she wouldn't get those answers from him. He looked like he had the same questions running through his mind.

She glanced over at him to see him staring out over the water, towards the city. One leg propped up with his elbow resting on it while his other leg draped over side, a cigarette dangling in his hand.

He looked different out here. She was quite positive he felt different too because he seemed so serene, relaxed.

"Can I ask you something?", she finally said, catching his attention. He glanced over at her, throwing his cigarette into the water below.

"You just did", he teased and Jenny just rolled her eyes and sighed. "What?", he asked, his face now serious and she looked up at him surprised. She didn't expect him to continue the started conversation.

"Well…", she started, not sure how to express what she needed to ask as she fiddled nervously with the hem of her skirt. "Why are you doing this?"

He shrugged. "Doing what?", he asked simply, no expression on his face visible.

"Well, this. You, me. Why are you… what are you doing with me?", she finally found the courage to ask what was bothering her most.

Nate raised an eyebrow, studying her intently and curious. "What do you think?", he asked, his face becoming serious again.

Jenny tried to voice her thoughts but couldn't, instead she turned her gaze back to the water, away from his intense gaze. "Honestly, I don't know", she confessed.

"Your parents know you're here?", he suddenly changed the subject and Jenny gazed at him surprised by his question.

"I live with my dad, and he…", she started but Nate raised a doubtful eyebrow so she admitted that he didn't know about them spending time together.

"Mmhmm."

"Though my friend Eric saw you drop me off yesterday", she told him, turning back to look at him.

"Really? And what did you say?", he asked, his face shielded again. His voice had a slight mocking tone to it as he wasn't sure if she had just made it up.

"I didn't know what to tell him exactly, except from how we met and that we spent some time. That's why I'd like to know from you what's going on here. I mean… why me?", she asked, looking at him curiously and letting out a sigh of frustration.

"I don't know", he stated it as if the statement would answer every question. "Do you regret getting on my bike?", he questioned instead. "You regret coming with me? You regret ever meeting me?" His eyes looked like he was almost daring her to say yes.

"No", she whispered in all honesty. If anything, she didn't regret it, not a single second. Maybe she shouldn't have done it so willingly, but she didn't regret any of it.

"Well, neither do I", a small smile touched his lips briefly before it disappeared. "So you live with your dad?", he asked changing the subject again as he lit up another cigarette.

"Yeah, just my dad and me."

"And your mom?", Nate asked, his voice sounding dejected at the last word.

"She's doing her own thing for years now", Jenny hesitantly told him, not knowing how to explain anything about her mother. "It didn't work out with them. She wanted time for herself, be an artist. She ended up dating her new neighbor and forgot about us. But its fine, I couldn't ask for a better dad."

Nate nodded, inhaling deeply from his cigarette.

"That's going to kill you, you know", Jenny said like she always did when Eric smoked before she could stop herself but he only laughed.

"Yeah, well there are a lot of other things that are going to kill me before", he looked at her pointedly. "And just so you know, I doubt it will happen any time soon."

Jenny bit her lip for a second in hesitation, not knowing if she should dare to ask anything more. His answers were always quick and never gave much away. In fact sometimes they even brought more questions than answers.

"Just fucking ask already", he ordered but Jenny could hear a bit of amusement in his voice.

She glanced up at him. "What?"

"You're biting your lip again, which means you want to ask me something. So… you either ask me right now or you keep biting your lip, but honestly it's really driving me fucking crazy and if you don't stop that, there won't be much more talking", he warned, his eyes darkened with lust and she blushed by the sheer sight.

"And you will really answer me honestly?", she asked, raising an eyebrow and he smirked.

His voice was full of amusement. "Depends on what you ask, Cinderella."

Jenny nodded, watching him closely. "You went to St. Jude's?"

Nate only nodded.

"Did you graduate?", she asked, trying to find out how he went from going to a private school to what he was now.

"Nope, I didn't make it past the eleventh", he shrugged. "Some things came up and I had my own plans then."

She didn't want to push into the matter any further for now, so she switched to another topic on her mind. "That warehouse yesterday, is that where you live?", she questioned cautiously, remembering the creepy building.

"Nah, that's just a place Chuck's uncle owns. No one of us lives there. It's just a place to hang out and party once in a while." He turned towards her with smirk. "But don't worry though… I'll take you to my place at some given time", he said winking at her and Jenny turned away, the blush turning her face into a tomato.

"That's… not what… I meant…", she started to articulate but Nate only laughed.

"You done being a reporter girl?", he asked, looking at her even more amused.

Jenny glared at him but his smirk only widened. He definitely was different when they were alone.

"Oh Cinderella… what are you doing with me?", he asked her the same question she had asked him earlier. This caught her of guard and for a minute she just stared at him, not knowing what to say.

What was she doing with him? That was a good question. A question she had asked herself at least a zillion times and not once she had been capable to answer it. No actually she had, and it was simple, she didn't know.

"I don't know", she admitted, glaring over his smile. Knowing full too well he had just used her own words against her.

"See… you can't blame me then." He stood up holding out a hand for her and Jenny found herself smiling, even at his smug look.

After throwing away the bag, they got into the car and Jenny rested herself within the seat, she instantly felt save. Williamsburg came into view faster than she wished for and Jenny found herself looking for anyone she knew, more specific a certain guy she knew. But Eric was nowhere in sight.

"I'm going out of town for a few days", Nate told her as he got out of the car and walked over to her car side, standing in front of her after he had helped her out.

"Oh. Okay." Jenny tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, not sure what else to say. She couldn't place why she felt so sad, but the sheer knowledge of him not waiting for her after school depressed her. She had gotten used to it, and she didn't want to miss it anymore.

"I won't be back until Saturday", he continued as he took a step towards her, closing the distance between them and removing a hand from his pocket to place it on her hip.

"Well, bye, I guess", she said nervously, not finding the right words to say for this kind of situation.

Nate chuckled and touched his lips to hers briefly, resting his forehead on hers.

"You call that a goodbye?", he asked, teasingly.

Jenny rolled her eyes but smiled back. "What do you want me to say?", she asked, raising an eyebrow.

He smirked down at her as he brought her even closer till her hands were resting on his chest.

"I don't want you to say anything", he replied with his lips hovering over hers. "But you don't have to say goodbye yet anyways."

Jenny looked up at him bewildered. "Seeing that you're leaving town and I'm obviously not going to see you again before you get back, yes I do have to say goodbye now."

"Who said you're not going to see me again before I leave?", he inquired, his smirk growing as he watched her.

Jenny raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Umm, you just said your leaving…", she responded, trailing off, looking at him pointedly.

"Yeah, but I'm not leaving _yet_", he shrugged and placed his lips to hers quickly before pulling back and walking to the driver's side, leaving a perplexed Jenny standing on the sidewalk. "I'll see you tonight", he stated as he got ready to get into his car.

Jenny's mouth dropped. "What?"

Nate just smirked at her and started the engine, pulling away. Disappearing down the road, leaving Jenny standing there shocked and suddenly frightened.

He wouldn't come back to Williamsburg tonight, would he? Did he think that she was going to a party or something? She was just staying home that night, she had school tomorrow. And he didn't know where she lived at. She had no idea what he had meant when he said they would see each other tonight. But the only option that came to mind was him believing in that she was going out.

Nevertheless it didn't put her on ease; in fact it only made her more nervous while she was walking towards Jake's diner to meet up with her dad.

* * *

><p>"Love you too", Jenny called over to her father after she took off to bed. She went into her room, shutting off the lights and laid in her bed. Sleep surely wouldn't come anytime soon, as her mind was musing the entire night over Nate's words. What did he mean? She had been jumpy since she returned home. But would he really show up at her door? Of course not, she never told him where in Williamsburg she lives. He always dropped her off a few streets away, how would he know? But still she felt uneasy about it.<p>

Now lying in bed and thinking about it, she realized how silly her thoughts had been. But even though it didn't change that sleep wouldn't come and all she could find herself doing was to think about mesmerizing, crystal clear blue eyes. Damn his eyes.

"Thinking about me, Cinderella?", a voice whispered through her room and she literally shot off her bed in panic, landing not so gracefully on the floor.

Placing a hand on her racing heart, she managed to stand up and gazed towards her window to see an amused Nate standing there, leaning against the outside windowsill, his usual cigarette in hand.

She was rooted to her spot with wide eyes, trying to grasp that he was in fact standing outside her window on the fire escape. As if it was the most normal thing to do at that time of night. He was completely at ease with his sudden appearance. And then there she was, standing shocked next to her bed only wearing a pair of Snoopy shorts and a matching white tank top, looking like she'd just seen a ghost.

Her face immediately heated up and she put her arms around her instinctively from embarrassment.

He chuckled. "You gonna invite me in?", he asked sarcastically.

She got out of her stupor and made her way as quiet and fast as she could over to the window to open it fully, glaring at him for putting her into this position. "What the hell are you doing here? My dad is just two rooms further…", she hissed warningly while looking over her shoulder to the slightly opened door.

Nate scrunched his face up and looked at her pointedly. "I know, I could hear him snore from all the way down the fire stairs", he told her and Jenny knew he was telling the truth about that as Rufus always slept with an open window.

"Why are you here?", she tried again, keeping her voice as low as possible in fear of waking up Rufus, her heart still beating frantically in her chest.

"I said I would see you later. Did you think I wouldn't come?"

Jenny gazed at him astonished, letting out a breath she was holding. Her nerves were still running wild. "I didn't think you would come here. How do you even know where I live?", she whispered.

"Well I did", he shrugged. "Now are you going to let me in or do I need a parole for admission?" His voice sounded irritated and amused at the same time.

Jenny was unsure of how to react. She gazed towards her door; her father was just a couple of feet away from them. What if he wakes up and she has a boy in her room? She clearly had to say no, but no matter how much it seemed the right thing to say she couldn't bring out this one simple word. She wanted him to stay; she wanted to be near him.

"Only for a few minutes", she heard herself say instead as she moved a bit to the side and he quickly climbed into her room. "Why did you come _here_?"

"I thought we already cleared that point, Cinderella", he answered while he took in her moon lit room.

Jenny stood next to her window as he went to inspire her room and looked over her fashion wall with a zillion pics of dresses, her CDs and finally taking a pic of Eric and her, tipping it towards the light coming from the window to see it better.

When he set it back down he turned to face her. "Why aren't you saying anything?"

Jenny gazed over to him, crossing the room in an instant to shut her door, wanting to prevent Rufus from hearing them talking.

"Sorry, I'm just quite surprised that you're _here_." She couldn't hide how irritated she was over his presence, as she couldn't remember one single time of her telling him where she lives.

"Am I not allowed to be here?", he asked with his voice icy and teasing.

Jenny glared at him. "That's not what I meant and you know that."

"So, you don't want me here?", he asked, his expression not changing, studying her intently while leaning against the garage door that separated her sleeping room from her sewing room.

"That's not it, it's just… I didn't expect you to come _here_, of all places." She looked over to him and crossed her arms in front of her chest as if she was shielding herself. She still didn't feel comfortable with him within her room.

Nate pushed himself off the door and walked over to where she was standing, he stopped only a few inches away. "What are you doing on Saturday night?", he asked casually, his eyes remaining on her.

"I don't know yet", she responded, surprised by his random question. "Why?"

"I get back Saturday, around noon. We're going out later, Pacha. I want you to come, to be there too." He let his hand slide down her arm, sending shivers through her, only to pull her in to him in the end.

Her heart rapidly sped up and she felt like a zillion butterflies had just conquered her stomach. "I don't think that my dad will let me…", she started to explain but he cut her off before she could finish.

"Don't tell him then." Jenny gazed up at him, studying his expression for a minute, but as usual there were no emotions showing on his face. "Chuck's sister", Nate continued and she sent him a quizzical look. "Say you're staying at her house, a girl's sleepover. However you call it."

"Go to Serena's?", Jenny asked, unconvinced.

"She'll go to the club. She likes to party. You can meet me then there."

She started to step from one foot to the other and swirled a strain of hair around her finger. Lying to her dad? Could she do that? She had never lied to him about her whereabouts, not even during the last days. Granted, he didn't ask her about the bus rides, so there was no need for lying to him. But this? Lying that she would sleepover to meet with an older boy. That was a totally different story.

"I don't know…I never slept at her place in the past", she shifted nervously, "and don't you have to be 21 to get in anyways?"

Nate laughed. "It's the Upper East Side. Show me one teen from there that doesn't party on regular basis in night clubs. And even if, I know the doorman quite well, so don't worry about it. You have any more excuses not to go?"

Jenny flushed, her nerves taking control over her body. She realized that she really wanted to go to that club to meet him there, but that she also could come up with a thousand more excuses not to go, in the end she didn't say anything more to it.

Nate moved even closer, bringing his lips to her ear and she shivered as his hot breath tickled her neck. "So you'll come to see me there then?", he whispered, bringing his other arm around her as well and pulling her closer, only mere inches separating them.

Jenny swallowed, her heart beat rapidly and she thought she would faint any second. She licked her dry lips and nodded.

"Perfect", he said before placing his lips on her neck and pulling her into him. Her eyes fluttered shut over the shock wave that ran through her entire body due to the contact and she needed to lay her hands on his shoulders to steady herself while he moved his mouth along her neck. He started to tease her, licking and sucking at moments and kissing soft kisses at others. She found herself craving his touch. Loving the sensations he sent through her.

She couldn't stop herself from moaning only to cause him to groan when he finally stopped his ministrations on her neck to look her deep in the eyes again, breathing heavily.

Her own breathing had become uneven, and it scared her that only these few actions of him were all that it took to make it happen. But before she could think about it a second longer his lips were attached again to hers, this time demanding and fiery. She returned the kiss with the same fire and intensity, allowing him to even deeper the kiss, hoping to get as close to him as her body was pleading to do.

She slowly ran her hands over his chest and up to his shoulders, underneath his jacket sliding it down to the floor in hope of touching even more of him.

In that moment she didn't care that she was wearing her Snoopy pajama and that he saw her likes this. While he held her close with his hands on her hips, she felt more sexy than she had ever felt before. In fact no one ever made her feel sexy, or perfect for that matter. Only he was capable to make her feel this way.

It seemed to her as he was trying to explore every single inch of her mouth, his lips moved in-sync with hers, never breaking the contact. Before she could even realize it she was lifted from the floor as Nate had moved his arm underneath her bottom and carried her over to her bed, laying her down and placing both his legs to either side of her, hovering above her and still not breaking the kiss he had initiated.

His hand worked their way up her side and she felt herself being pushed further into her bed as he came again closer to her. She could feel the heat radiating from his body, and her own rose to no end. She heard herself gasp as he ran his hand over her stomach and rubbed tiny circles on her sides with his thumb while he was propped with his other arm on the side of her head, holding him up.

He broke the kiss and slowly started kissing her neck again, running his tongue in painfully slow circles before sucking on her skin, making more quiet moans escape her lips.

Her entire body screamed for more contact, and the urge to get more of him became unbearable to her. She wanted to merge with him. With every second going by she lost more and more control over her thinking and doing.

His hands slowly slid up higher and she felt herself stiffen under his touch at the feelings that immediately shot through her.

He broke away from her neck then, breathing erratic as he looked into her eyes again, his own dark and clouded, filled with lust and desire. Her hands were laying on his chest and she could feel his rapid heartbeat underneath. She swallowed and saw him smirk down at her, her cheeks slowly getting red as it finally dawned her the position they were in. It was late evening, they were alone in her room, laying on her bed with him on top of her. _God, how did we even get here? _Her mind was racing.

"Don't worry, Cinderella, I'm not planning on removing any clothes of yours, unless…", he said suggestively, chuckling when he saw her face blushed even more as she broke eye contact with him and looked straight at the ceiling, only to avoid gazing him in the eyes.

She looked back at him when he didn't respond as he normally would do and she found him looking at her with an intense, but strange expression on his face, his smirk gone as he was holding himself up with both arms, looking down at her.

"You are not scared of me, are you?", he asked, his eyes narrowed in what seemed like surprise.

Jenny's eyes widened in astonishment over his question. She could never be scared of him, at least that's what she felt. If she was scared of anything it was what he made her feel or made her do, made her want to do. The feelings that he evoked in her which made her lose control.

"I'm not frightened of you, I couldn't be", she said shaking her head and looking at him earnestly. "I'm afraid of…", she felt her cheeks heat up again. "I'm just afraid of what you… make me feel", she confessed, moving her hands to play with the bottom of her shirt that was now pulled up quite a bit from their previous actions, focusing her eyes on that to get away from his intense gaze.

His hand came up to cup her cheek and he moved her face so she was looking at him again. He pressed his lips to hers gently, sucking on her bottom lip slowly before pulling back and kissing her again quickly.

"Dito", she thought she heard him whisper but wasn't sure as he ran his thumb across her bottom lip, watching her intensely.

"You know that question you asked me earlier?", he asked, while scanning her face with his eyes as if he was burning it into his mind.

"What question?", she asked in a barely audible whisper, her heart still going a hundred miles per second.

"What I'm doing with you? Why you?", he repeated and she nodded. "I honestly don't know what I'm doing when I'm around you, so I can't answer that question for you", he said, and a small smile grew on her face as he finally gave her some answers to her questions. She nodded wordlessly.

"But why you?", he continued, tracing her bottom lip with his tongue and nipping at it before pulling back.

Jenny watched him, waiting expectantly.

"You're intoxicating, you're my chemical infatuation", he whispered against her lips and without warning she was breathless again as he kissed her again. The most sensual and passionate kiss she had ever experienced and never knew was possible. It was slow and soft but quick and wanting. She felt like nothing else mattered with this one simple kiss and knew that it changed everything inside of her.

"I have to go, I'm leaving early in the morning", he whispered, nuzzling her neck, and letting out a frustrated, deep breath. "I'll see you on Saturday?", he asked against her skin, kissing it gently.

"Yes", she agreed breathlessly.

"Okay", he replied, hesitantly getting up and walking to where his jacket lay on the floor, running a hand through his hair.

Jenny sat up in her bed and watched him as he shrugged it on and came back over to her, leaning down and bringing her lips to his one final time.

He pulled back and smirked down at her, licking his lips and looking down at her pants.

"I like the pajamas", he said with amusement and Jenny flushed. He leaned down and kissed her again. "I'm serious. I always watched the Peanuts as a child. Snoopy was my favorite."

She looked up at him and glared playfully but a smile fell onto her lips too as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"I'll see you on Saturday, Cinderella", he winked at her as he moved towards the window and with one last look, slid out, disappearing into the night.

Jenny looked around her room, empty and no sign that he had just been here seconds ago except for her swollen lips, flushed face and heavy breathing.

She slid her legs under the covers and laid onto her side, gazing at the slightly opened window, a not vanishing smile on her face.

And with butterflies making their rounds and the scent of him still filling her nostrils, the taste of his lips still on hers, she fell asleep in no time. Dreaming of crystal clear blue eyes and lips that could set her body on fire.


End file.
